Design and Evaluation of an Automatic Scheduling-Manual Operation Tool to Bring Precision Irrigation to Resource-Constrained Farmers
As populations increase and freshwater supplies decrease, adopting water- and energy-efficient irrigation practices is crucial, particularly in resource-constrained regions. Here, farmers are often unable to purchase the equipment used in precision irrigation, a practice that implements the automati...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Society of Mechanical Engineers
2024
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/154894 |
| _version_ | 1811089848322228224 |
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| author | Van de Zande, Georgia D Sheline, Carolyn Amrose, Susan Costello, Jeffrey Ghodgaonkar, Aditya Grant, Fiona Winter, Amos G |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering Van de Zande, Georgia D Sheline, Carolyn Amrose, Susan Costello, Jeffrey Ghodgaonkar, Aditya Grant, Fiona Winter, Amos G |
| author_sort | Van de Zande, Georgia D |
| collection | MIT |
| description | As populations increase and freshwater supplies decrease, adopting water- and energy-efficient irrigation practices is crucial, particularly in resource-constrained regions. Here, farmers are often unable to purchase the equipment used in precision irrigation, a practice that implements the automatic scheduling of irrigation events to achieve high efficiency. Currently, no irrigation methods exist that combine the automatic scheduling of irrigation events with the manual operation of valves, a common practice on low-income farms. This work introduces a design concept for an automatic scheduling and manual operation (AS-MO) tool that addresses the efficiency needs of resource-constrained farms and integrates into current manual practices. However, it is unknown how farmers would value such a tool. Through interviews and focus groups facilitated by a series of storyboards and a physical prototype, the proposed concept was evaluated by farmers and key market stakeholders in Kenya, Jordan, and Morocco. Results showed that farmers in Kenya and Jordan in particular valued the proposed AS-MO concept because they want increased efficiency on their farms but did not want to install automatic valves for cost and complexity concerns. A possible market was also found in Morocco, but a majority of interviewed farms preferred automatic valve operation due to large farm sizes. Interviewees provided feedback on how to improve the tool’s design in future iterations. If adopted at scale, this AS-MO tool could increase efficiency on farms that otherwise cannot afford current precision irrigation technology, improving sustainable agriculture worldwide. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T14:25:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/154894 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-24T14:57:53Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | American Society of Mechanical Engineers |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1548942024-09-23T04:23:24Z Design and Evaluation of an Automatic Scheduling-Manual Operation Tool to Bring Precision Irrigation to Resource-Constrained Farmers Van de Zande, Georgia D Sheline, Carolyn Amrose, Susan Costello, Jeffrey Ghodgaonkar, Aditya Grant, Fiona Winter, Amos G Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering As populations increase and freshwater supplies decrease, adopting water- and energy-efficient irrigation practices is crucial, particularly in resource-constrained regions. Here, farmers are often unable to purchase the equipment used in precision irrigation, a practice that implements the automatic scheduling of irrigation events to achieve high efficiency. Currently, no irrigation methods exist that combine the automatic scheduling of irrigation events with the manual operation of valves, a common practice on low-income farms. This work introduces a design concept for an automatic scheduling and manual operation (AS-MO) tool that addresses the efficiency needs of resource-constrained farms and integrates into current manual practices. However, it is unknown how farmers would value such a tool. Through interviews and focus groups facilitated by a series of storyboards and a physical prototype, the proposed concept was evaluated by farmers and key market stakeholders in Kenya, Jordan, and Morocco. Results showed that farmers in Kenya and Jordan in particular valued the proposed AS-MO concept because they want increased efficiency on their farms but did not want to install automatic valves for cost and complexity concerns. A possible market was also found in Morocco, but a majority of interviewed farms preferred automatic valve operation due to large farm sizes. Interviewees provided feedback on how to improve the tool’s design in future iterations. If adopted at scale, this AS-MO tool could increase efficiency on farms that otherwise cannot afford current precision irrigation technology, improving sustainable agriculture worldwide. 2024-05-10T13:36:32Z 2024-05-10T13:36:32Z 2023-08-20 2024-05-10T13:33:50Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/ConferencePaper https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/154894 Van de Zande, Georgia D, Sheline, Carolyn, Amrose, Susan, Costello, Jeffrey, Ghodgaonkar, Aditya et al. 2023. "Design and Evaluation of an Automatic Scheduling-Manual Operation Tool to Bring Precision Irrigation to Resource-Constrained Farmers." Volume 3B: 49th Design Automation Conference (DAC). en 10.1115/detc2023-112470 Volume 3B: 49th Design Automation Conference (DAC) Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME |
| spellingShingle | Van de Zande, Georgia D Sheline, Carolyn Amrose, Susan Costello, Jeffrey Ghodgaonkar, Aditya Grant, Fiona Winter, Amos G Design and Evaluation of an Automatic Scheduling-Manual Operation Tool to Bring Precision Irrigation to Resource-Constrained Farmers |
| title | Design and Evaluation of an Automatic Scheduling-Manual Operation Tool to Bring Precision Irrigation to Resource-Constrained Farmers |
| title_full | Design and Evaluation of an Automatic Scheduling-Manual Operation Tool to Bring Precision Irrigation to Resource-Constrained Farmers |
| title_fullStr | Design and Evaluation of an Automatic Scheduling-Manual Operation Tool to Bring Precision Irrigation to Resource-Constrained Farmers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Design and Evaluation of an Automatic Scheduling-Manual Operation Tool to Bring Precision Irrigation to Resource-Constrained Farmers |
| title_short | Design and Evaluation of an Automatic Scheduling-Manual Operation Tool to Bring Precision Irrigation to Resource-Constrained Farmers |
| title_sort | design and evaluation of an automatic scheduling manual operation tool to bring precision irrigation to resource constrained farmers |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/154894 |
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