Farming Smarter, Not Harder The Rise Of Ai-Powered Irrigation

A smart irrigation system powered by artificial intelligence will tell sugarcane farmers when and where to water their crops in an advance that could one day revolutionise agriculture – and help preserve the health of the Great Barrier Reef.

Developed by Victoria’s La Trobe University for far-north Queensland ag-tech company Aglantis, the intelligent irrigation system uses the Internet of Things to automate water pump management and monitor sunlight, temperature, and humidity levels without human interaction.

The system was initially conceived as a project to improve land management and prevent fertiliser run-off from farms into the Great Barrier Reef, but with new technology making smart irrigation more affordable, Aglantis managing director Luke Malan said the potential of the product was almost limitless.

In addition to saving water, future AI additions could teach the system how to conserve energy, responding to solar or energy tariffs. It could also examine soil profiles and make intelligent choices around crop selection and yields.

“It essentially takes the guesswork out of farming,” Luke said.

“With growing pressures on profitability, it’s more imperative to know what you’re doing and how you can do it better.

“This flips conventional thinking on its head and opens the doorway to new possibilities.”

Professor Wei Xiang, Cisco Research Chair and Director of La Trobe University’s Cisco Centre for AI and the Internet of Things, said the smart irrigation system was the centre’s first commercial product and showed how industry could drive research to tangible and ground-breaking results.

La Trobe is already working with the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), creating the world’s first AI-powered three-dimensional digital twin of the Great Barrier Reef to monitor its health.

“Now we've proven the technology, the next step is to add additional features to improve productivity and crop yields through leveraging cutting-edge AI technology,” Professor Xiang said.

“This will make farming on the whole more sustainable."

Researchers Kamyar Karimi and Aravindan Madasamy, who developed the system for La Trobe under the supervision of Professor Xiang, said it would reduce labour costs, increase water efficiency and allow more precision in farm decision-making.

Ultimately, the system design could include intelligent sequencing to determine the perfect order of irrigation across different farm sections, predictive maintenance and continuous learning from historical data, seasonal patterns and crop responses.

"This technology represents a major shift towards data-driven, sustainable agriculture where AI and IoT optimise every drop of water for maximum farming efficiency," Kamyar said.

Aravindan said the development of the smart irrigation system was a transformative step forward for farmers.

"By automating labour-intensive processes and putting control in the hands of advanced technology, farmers can save time, conserve resources and focus on other priorities without the stress of manual management.”

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AI-powered irrigation revolutionises sugarcane farming, optimising water use, reducing labour, and preventing runoff to protect the Great Barrier Reef, ensuring sustainable, data-driven agriculture.

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