Development of Irrigation Automation System Based on FAO Penman-Monteith Model with Drip Irrigation for Paddy Rice

The increasing demand on water due to drought impacts paddy rice production. Therefore, the use of sustainable irrigation methods and smart agricultural practices are of gaining importance. In this study, it was aimed to provide drip irrigation automation by calculating paddy rice evapotranspiration (ETC), irrigation water requirement and irrigation duration based on FAO Penman-Monteith (FAO-PM) model with the developed prototype device via mobile application. Four different irrigation levels (S100, S150, S200 and Farmer (F)) were applied in the study. The research was carried out in the farmer's field located in İpsala district of Edirne province in 2023 and 2024 seasons. The trial was carried out based on daily meteorological parameters in field conditions and the data were stored in a Sheets file on Google Drive. In the study, the seasonal total reference evapotranspiration (ET0) and ETC values were calculated as 571 and 583 mm in 2023 and 655 and 665 mm in 2024. Ranges of seasonal total irrigation water applied were 695-1555 mm in 2023 and 802-1916 mm in 2024. In 2023, the highest yield was obtained in the F application at 6502 kg/ha, while the lowest yield was obtained in the S100 application at 4552 kg/ha. In the second year of the study, the highest yield was obtained in the F application at 7401 kg/ha, while the lowest yield was obtained in the S100 application at 5381 kg/ha. In the first year of the study, irrigation water use efficiencies (IWUE) varied between 0.42-0.65 kg/m3 and between 0.39-0.67 kg/m3 in the second year. The highest IWUE was found in the S100 application in both years. As a result of the study, it was revealed that the system successfully performed irrigation automation. It was seen that the developed device was also applicable for small businesses in terms of ease of use.