Irrigation Education | Oklahoma Condition College

Friday, May well 27, 2022

Media Contact:
Jami Mattox | Agricultural Communications Companies | 405-744-8061 | [email protected]

Forty per cent of drinking water in Oklahoma is used for irrigation.

To incentivize water conservation as a result of irrigation training, Oklahoma State College faculty launched the Learn Irrigator System in 2021.

“This intensive education and learning method elevates the know-how of producers who irrigate
so they can raise their efficiency and productiveness,” mentioned Jason Warren, professor in the  OSU plant and soil sciences division.

The initially Master Irrigator Method started in Texas. OSU faculty customers discovered of
the program at a meeting in 2018 and started to program a related software for Oklahoma,
Warren mentioned.

OSU started out its to start with system in Goodwell in 2021. The 2022 software transpired in Altus,
and in 2023, the method will return to Goodwell.

The application leaders strategy to increase the software to other areas of Oklahoma, Warren
reported.

The method registration cost is $100. Producers show up at 1 working day a 7 days for four weeks
and can show up at industry times for fingers-on understanding in the fall.

The curriculum involves standard soil and h2o ideas, irrigation administration, and
other topics requested by an advisory panel, which features neighborhood producers, claimed
Sumit Sharma, assistant extension expert in the plant and soil sciences department.

“These farmers are from sites facing water shortage,” mentioned Saleh Taghvaeian, affiliate professor in the biosystems and agricultural engineering section. “We are talking about how they can superior regulate restricted resources so they can go away
this useful source for potential generations.”

Attending the application lets producers discuss irrigation approaches they use, difficulties
they facial area and management methods they are curious about, Warren said.

Sharma said the producers arrive from counties all over the system site, so they
normally face very similar difficulties. Producers can share procedures they used to prevail over these
problems, Sharma included. This method presents a platform to aid peer-to-peer
exchange of expertise, he claimed.

“You get a team of people together getting a discussion about management concerns,”
Warren reported. “The gorgeous matter is they are all studying from one particular a further in striving
to improve the total irrigation in the location.”

Sharma delivers in speakers from bordering parts to offer distinct experience for
producers. He said he appears to be like for speakers who are acquainted with the place and can carry
existing information about technology, irrigation, h2o and soil. Producers are consulted
before the program starts to be certain their certain troubles will be dealt with, he
added.

“We get people today jointly from different farms and unique ordeals,” Taghvaeian
reported. “We want them to get engaged in dialogue so it is not just a just one-way transfer
of information but a multi-way interaction exactly where absolutely everyone learns from just about every other.”

Plan facilitators master from the producers, as well, Sharma reported. The producers
are working with land, drinking water and irrigation units just about every day, so their sensible
knowledge is worthwhile, he added.

Speaking with producers also guides investigate at OSU, making it possible for researchers to discover remedies
that will be beneficial to Oklahoma and produce a need-pushed extension method, Taghvaeian
mentioned.

“We are maximizing producers’ expertise of irrigation technologies,” mentioned Kevin Wagner, director of the Oklahoma Drinking water Means Heart. “We also are ready to assistance them overcome the fiscal burden of adopting these technologies.”

Grasp Irrigator Application graduates are qualified for rewards to boost their irrigation
devices, Wagner mentioned. Wagner performs with eight other state and federal companies to
supply funding and prospects.

Graduates can receive up to $2,000 to acquire irrigation engineering, like soil dampness
sensors or irrigation schedulers, Warren said. Producers also can get added
factors on their Environmental Quality Incentives System applications. The apps
are for money aid furnished by the U.S. Section of Agriculture All-natural
Means Conservation Provider.

Graduates also can ask for no cost irrigation audits, which are carried out making use of the OSU
Mobile Irrigation Lab, Taghvaeian reported.

Taghvaeian conducts two types of irrigation audits: vitality and drinking water.

Electricity audits evaluate how substantially energy the irrigation process uses in day-to-day operations.

“We go out to the farm and estimate the efficiency at which their pumps are working with
strength,” Taghvaeian mentioned. “Then, we notify the farmer how substantially they can help you save if they
increase the effectiveness.”

Water audits evaluate the performance of the irrigation process in regard to drinking water use.
Farmers typically use this useful resource to tune up their irrigation methods right before the irrigation
time commences, Taghvaeian mentioned.

“We have highly developed sensors and instruments we connect to diverse parts of the irrigation
method,” Taghvaeian said. “We can uncover leaks in the pipeline, evaluate the uniformity
of irrigation software, and explain to if the technique desires tuning or not.”

Conducting audits permits the Master Irrigator Plan facilitators to hook up with
producers immediately after they graduate from the plan, Sharma stated. Sharma also checks with
producers to discover what technological innovation they have adopted, how their irrigation season
is going, and what curriculum they propose for future plans.

Facilitators value feed-back from producers, which can guideline the application to fit with
the passions of producers in the location, Sharma stated.

“The software is heading to evolve more than time,” Sharma explained. “As we go ahead, the focus
will stay on what producers are fascinated in.”

30-seven producers graduated from the to start with two programs mixed. The great number
of producers for each session is 25, Taghvaeian said.

As the software grows, the concentration will be to proceed to supply worth to producers
and shoppers alike, Wagner explained. Productive drinking water and vitality use can help you save producers
income, he included. Conserving drinking water — a precious natural resource — benefits Oklahomans
across the condition, Wagner reported.

“Any h2o you can preserve currently is h2o you can use in the future,” Warren explained. “And
that future return has worth.”

Tale By: Haley Reasonable | Cowboy Journal