Dr. Joseph Massey

Research Agronomist|USDA-ARS

2023 Abstract - COMPARING LEVELS OF RICE IRRIGATION AUTOMATION IN NE ARKANSAS: At least three issues warrant interest in rice irrigation automation: increasing farm size, chronic labor shortages, and groundwater depletion. The first two can negatively impact a producer’s ability to refine irrigation practices at scales necessary to address regional water issues. Moreover, a growing number of opportunities to participate in corporate- and/or government-sponsored sustainability programs feature alternate wetting-and-drying flood management. Such efforts would benefit from the refined irrigation control and digital documentation offered by automation technologies. Field trials on three NE Arkansas farms compared different levels of automation to their respective manual controls in terms of irrigation savings and yield. Measurements of time to install/remove sensors and observations of automation reliability were also made. Results from a related modeling effort suggest that early cascade rice irrigation shutoff (ECIS) can save water on par with multiple-inlet rice irrigation (MIRI). A companion poster describing ECIS is being presented.