Water Savings and User-Centered Validation of an Automatic Scheduling-Manual Operation (AS-MO) Irrigation Tool: A Case Study on a Jordanian Farm

Abstract This work aims to demonstrate that long-term use of an automatic scheduling-manual operation (AS-MO) irrigation tool increases water savings, compared to fully manual irrigation, a common practice on resource-constrained farms in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Prior work has shown that an AS-MO tool has the potential to bridge the gap between fully manual irrigation and existing precision agriculture solutions, but such a tool has not been demonstrated on a farm. Through an 11-week case study conducted on a Jordanian farm, we show that farmers use this tool as intended. To understand how the tool performs in context, a functional tool prototype was designed to deliver a long-term AS-MO user experience to study participants. The prototype monitored local weather conditions, generated water-efficient schedules using an existing scheduling theory, and notified users’ phones when they should manually open or close valves. The irrigation practices of participants using the AS-MO prototype were compared to conventional practices. Significant water savings were not realized, but participants demonstrated successful use of the tool. Irrigation events were measured to show that users correctly confirmed 93% of the scheduled events using the tool’s interface. Of the irrigation events that did occur, a majority of their durations fell within 15% of the scheduled durations. Results from this work and feedback from study participants can continue to improve the design of the proposed AS-MO tool. If adopted at scale, this tool could increase the adoption of water-efficient irrigation practices on resource-constrained farms that are not served by existing precision irrigation technology, improving food security and sustainable agriculture in MENA.