Harnessing Digital Technologies for Smarter Water Management in Agriculture 2025

Implementation –Researchers constructed a numerical model of the Tulare Basin’s soil structure, distinguishing between rigid clay aquifers and more permeable unconfined soils that respond quickly to rainfall and pumping activities. –By eliminating long-term subsidence trends, they developed a dataset that focused on short-term groundwater fluctuations, enabling precise monitoring of water movement. –The model underwent validation through comparisons with weather events, GPS data and a limited number of well measurements, demonstrating its effectiveness in accurately locating underground water sources.Impact –Enabled farmers to differentiate between sustainable and unsustainable groundwater sources, facilitating improved water conservation strategies. –Provided policy-makers with high-resolution groundwater monitoring, which is essential for the implementation of water regulations and recharge initiatives. –Laid the foundation for global adaptation, as similar models can be applied in other agricultural areas experiencing groundwater depletion. This case study highlights the potential of remote sensing, satellite data and numerical modelling to support data-driven water management decisions in agriculture, ensuring the long- term sustainability of critical water resources. Source: NASA (2022).24 Precision irrigation is a tech-based transformative approach in agricultural water management. The primary benefit of precision irrigation is to enable farmers to deliver the optimal quantity of water to crops, in the right location and at the desired time. Water is evenly distributed across the land surface by achieving precise delivery of water to the roots of plants. Efficient precision irrigation methods such as drip or micro-irrigation deliver much lower volumes of water, carefully calibrated to be sufficient for crops to grow, unlike conventional pop-up sprinkler systems where water is over-sprayed on plants in excessive volumes. Targeting precise water application to growing plants is critical to efficiently combat water scarcity. By integrating digital technologies into irrigation systems, farmers can optimize water usage and grow healthy crops across semi-arid regions. Preventing inefficient water use through real-time soil monitoring IoT sensors play a crucial role in precision irrigation as a key enabler of monitoring soil moisture levels. Real-time moisture data transmitted from these sensors to centralized platforms prevents farmers from over-irrigating. Sensors embedded into soil collect data on nutrient levels and crop health as well. For example, Yara’s Water Solution is enabling farmers to track ongoing soil moisture and nutrient levels, assisting them in preventing over-irrigation while ensuring crop health.25 By combining real-time data with historical weather data, evapotranspiration rates and crop requirements, AI-driven algorithms can forecast the water requirements of plants. Meanwhile, the early signs of water stress in crops can be detected by analysing these models, enabling proactive solutions to mitigate drought impacts and improve sustainability. Automating irrigation to deliver water with precision In addition to real-time soil and crop monitoring, IoT sensors are directly integrated with automated irrigation systems. In drip irrigation, IoT sensors are used to detect when soil moisture levels fall below a threshold value, automatically triggering smart valves and pumps to deliver the exact amount of water required. In this way, irrigation systems that are remotely controlled by IoT platforms can deliver water distribution that minimizes water waste and reduces human intervention. Utilizing geospatial data to define irrigation zones Remote sensing technologies, provided through satellite imagery and drones, provide detailed geospatial data across large agricultural fields. This high-resolution data consists of water stress conditions, crop health and soil moisture levels, which highlight the inputs required to deploy precision irrigation practices as efficiently as possible. 1.2 Optimizing irrigation efficiency with smart systems IoT sensors detect when soil moisture levels fall below a threshold value to deliver the exact amount of water required. Harnessing Digital Technologies for Smarter Water Management in Agriculture 13