SmartIrrigation Apps for Drought Adaptation in Irrigation Scheduling

The focus of this project is on water conservation due to current and predicted water scarcity and drought in the Southeastern United States through better irrigation practices. This project will address adaptation to drought through improved irrigation water use efficiency by incorporating more spatially accurate rainfall data, an irrigation deficit index, and primed acclimation strategies into already developed smartphone/tablet SmartIrrigation apps for citrus, cotton, strawberry, and turfgrass production. The improved Smartirrigation apps, developed in coordination with the Southeast Climate Consortium, will be demonstrated by engaging producers and extension agents to use and evaluate them. The project will result in dissemination and greater adoption of easy to use, reliable, and easily accessible tools by producers in a region of the country where drought has been a persistent problem for the past decade resulting in a need for more efficient use of water resources. This will allow producers to make smarter, more sustainable decisions on using limited water supplies and potentially conserving water.