Irrigation model for agricultural applications

Monitoring the use and need for water in crops ang agriculture is of increasing importance nowadays for optimization of cultures and especially with the aim not to waste resources, in line with Sustainable Development Goals, EU Green Deal and responsible development. An Italian company has developed a decision support system that, based on the agronomic-cultural characteristics of the plot, selectable through the initial setting interface of the model, will carry out daily the specific water balance for the type of soil, the location, and the desired crop. The FAO (Irrigation and Drainage Paper No. 56) standard method is used, analyzing the terms entering and leaving the soil system and providing a series of useful information and related services: - Daily and long-term evapotranspiration (highly accurate calibrated value). - Soil water deficit relative to the field capacity (maximum water volume retained by the soil). - The residual water content that can be easily extracted from the crops (without undergoing stress conditions). - The terms of effective rain and capillary ascent. Such a system can be used effectively in agriculture, soil, environment, meteorological applications. The Italian company is interested in technical cooperation agreements with SMEs or organisations for customizations, or in research cooperation agreements in case such a system can be further implemented in specific applications under EU programmes (i.e. LIFE, EU Green Deal related, other Programmes of interest).