Agent based irrigation management for mixed-cropping farms

Abstract

This paper describes the development of an intelligent irrigation management system that can be used by farmers to manage water allocation in the farms. Each farm is represented as a single agent that can work out the actual water required for each crop in the farm based on the crop’s drought sensitivity, growth stage, the crop coefficient value and the soil type. During water scarcity, this system can prioritise irrigation allocation to different crops on a farm. Our initial experiment showed that using the irrigation management system, the farm can achieve a consistent water reduction which is more than the required reduction. The results showed that the agent consistently recorded water reduction higher than the actual reduction required by the water authority. This significant reduction means that more water can be conserved in the farm and reallocated for other purposes.