HONOLULU — A $2.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide a substantial boost to an artificial intelligence project led by the University of Hawaii at Manoa that can assist those in Hawaii’s agricultural sector to use water sustainably.
“This technology has the potential to transform irrigation practices across Hawaii, helping our farmers conserve water while maximizing crop yields,” said Sayed Bateni in a UH news release. Bateni is project principal investigator and professor in the UH Manoa Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering and Water Resources Research Center. “By putting AI-enhanced tools directly into the hands of local producers, we’re not just developing new technology – we’re cultivating a more sustainable and resilient agricultural future for our islands.”
The variable nature of Hawaii’s seasons often leaves crops without adequate water throughout the year, despite abundant rainfall in some areas. The project will incorporate data from a network of weather stations across the islands feeding it into an innovative AI-enhanced irrigation management system.
Farmers in Hawaii would be able to effectively and efficiently reduce irrigation water and enhance yields by adopting a tool, CropManage, according to co-principal investigator Jonathan Deenik, department chair, professor and extension specialist in the Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.
“The AI-enhanced CropManage irrigation scheduling software will assist farmers better match water delivery to meet specific crop water needs with multiple benefits including conservation of precious fresh water resources, increased profitability for farmers through the reduction in water costs and increased overall sustainability of agriculture in Hawaii,” said Deenik.
To use the CropManage irrigation tool, farmers will need to create an account and input information on their farms, such as crop type, acre, location, irrigation system, etc. The tool will then determine when and how much irrigation each crop type requires.
“Preliminary results show that CropManage could reduce the amount of irrigation water by 35% or even sometimes 40%, and enhance crop yields by 20% or even more. So CropManage lowers farmers’ cost of water and labor through fewer irrigation events,” said Bateni.
“It also has direct benefits for our state and society because CropManage can increase the resilience and sustainability of Hawaii agriculture in the face of a changing climate. It also increases the conservation of our water resources in Hawaii,” he added.
Bateni explains the software incorporates weather data such as rainfall, air temperature, humidity, wind speed and other factors, as well as soil and crop type to guide farmers in managing their water use.
Fourteen farms will collaborate in intensive on-farm irrigation trials to test and refine the technology. The results will be shared with agricultural producers to encourage widespread adoption of the advanced irrigation management tool. The project is expected to start in 2024 and end in 2029.
The project is a collaboration among WRRC, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources and College of Engineering at UH Manoa, and the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Sarah Yamanaka covers events, environmental and community news for Spectrum News Hawaii. She can be reached at sarah.yamanaka@charter.com.