SMART-PADDY

Smart on-line water salinity measurement network to manage and protect rice fields

 Partecipanti

Mappa

 Word cloud

Esplora la "nuvola delle parole (Word Cloud) per avere un'idea di massima del progetto.

 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Rice is the main crop in wet areas such as river deltas and is an essential tool in Europe in managing protected ecosystems. Irrigation water is a key factor in the production of rice and water quality has a major impact on crop yield as a result of tolerance of rice to factors such as dissolved salts. Rice is more water consuming than many other crops: in continuous flooding cultivation it takes about 6 times the water required by wheat. Due to increased water use in coastal areas, the sea intrudes the water table and seawater floods nearby fields during storms in the Mediterranean area. The result is increased water salinity, which reduces yield in rice crops and increases soil salinity. Nowadays, water condition is for the most part assessed by visual inspection of the crops and, when excess water salinity is suspected, fields are irrigated by flooding them. In areas where water salinity is endemic, rice paddies are continuously irrigated with river water to reduce water salinity. This is a remedial solution that requires enormous volumes of water and considerable energy to pump water. Water salinity can be accurately determined by measuring its electrical conductivity (EC). Measuring EC at the water inlet and outlet of each paddy field can help in monitoring the “washing” effect of irrigation. Moreover, measuring EC at points far from water inlets and outlets can help in assessing water salinity in a given paddy field and at different depths in drainage channels can help in managing water salinity in larger areas. This project will develop a wireless sensor network comprised of low-cost EC measurement nodes and an autonomous power supply based on energy harvesting, that will be capable of transmitting readings in real-time to a central server. This data will enable cultivators to effectively manage and protect of their paddy fields and greatly reduce flood water consumption.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Use of coastal groundwater for rice farming can cause salinity and excessive usage of irrigation water. An EU project developed a new sensor that measures salinity through electrical conductivity, allowing improved management of rice fields.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Growing rice requires large amounts of water, which may come from groundwater; in coastal areas, groundwater depletion may cause seawater infiltration and groundwater salinisation. The current solution is visual judgement of salinity and manual introduction of diluting irrigation water, resulting in water wastage.

The EU-funded project 'Smart on-line water salinity measurement network to manage and protect rice fields' (http://www.smartpaddy.eu (SMART-PADDY)) aimed to develop an automatic salinity sensor system. The planned wireless sensors measure salinity using electrical conductivity, and transmit their data via a communications module to a central server in real time. The data allows rice growers to manage and protect their rice paddies, and to reduce water consumption.

Project members began with defining the needs of the rice-growing industry in terms of technical specifics of the probe, including electrical sensitivity and operating environment. Their experiments also established that water salinity can be measured using both pulse wave excitation and electrical impedance spectroscopy. Both methods were combined in the project's solar-powered sensor.

Based on the initially defined requirements, the consortium developed the online wireless system, which was then optimised regarding power consumption. The sensors and wireless network were combined into a single unit, and the whole system underwent extensive laboratory and field testing at four sites.

The project achieved its aims. The unit has been demonstrated to work in harsh environments, and includes a novel means of detecting the fouling that could affect salinity readings. The equipment has been shown to provide data of equal or better quality compared to handheld devices, while also allowing remote monitoring.

Hence, the system has a proven ability to manage salinity in rice crops, and therefore to increase yield. The system will be patented, and its method of measuring electrical conductivity may have other applications.

SMART-PADDY outcomes will boost the international competitiveness of European rice farmers and industries related to the supply of rice. In addition, the technology may offer opportunities to export to other major rice-growing countries, and for wider applications of electrical conductivity measurement.