The Irrigation Innovation Consortium, a public-private initiative to advance irrigation research, recently announced funding for seven research projects in 2020. The Irrigation Association was selected for one of two industry pitch projects funded.

Projects were selected through a competitive review process that weighed and prioritized proposals according to scientific merit, novelty, level of industry involvement and inter-institution collaboration, among other factors.

The following projects were selected for funding in 2020:

 
• Advancing Development of the Parallel 41 Flux Network for Real-Time Evapotranspiration Monitoring (Principal investigator: Christopher Neale, PhD, University of Nebraska-Lincoln)
• Deployment & Maintenance of Flux Towers in Kansas to be Integrated to the Parallel 21 Flux Networks to Support Multi-State Real-Time Evapotranspiration Estimates (Principal investigator: Eduardo Santos, PhD, Kansas State University)
• Optimizing Irrigation of Turfgrass Using Sensors, IOT, Lora Technology & Artificial Intelligence (Principal investigator: Jay Ham, PhD, Colorado State University)
• Toward Pivot Automation with Proximal Sensing for Maize & Soybean in the Great Plains (Principal investigator: Derek Heeren, PhD, PE, University of Nebraska-Lincoln)
• A Remote Sensing Approach to Identify Critical Areas in California Orchards for Improving Irrigation Water Management Through Precision Agriculture Technology (Principal investigator: Dilruba Yeasmin, PhD, California State University, Fresno)
The consortium also selected the following two industry pitch projects:
• An Economic Impact Study of the Irrigation Industry (Principal investigator: John Farner, Irrigation Association)
• Connecting Field Scale Performance to Watershed Health: The Added Power of Sharing Data/Calculating Producer Water Use in Real Time (Principal investigator: John Heaston, Aquamart)

"These research projects funded by the IIC will equip farms and landscapes of the future with cutting-edge technology that will enhance irrigation efficiency," said Deborah Hamlin, CAE, FASAE, IA CEO and IIC Steering Committee member. "The IA is honored to be chosen to contribute to this important work as an industry member."

According to the association, the IIC project was made possible through an initial $5 million grant by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research. This grant was matched by industry and university participants for a total initial investment of $10 million to support research and collaboration costs over five years. The Irrigation Association is one of the IIC's founding members.

For more information about the IIC, visit https://irrigationinnovation.org.