Energy-Saving Solutions to be Showcased at Irrigation Expo

Leading-edge technology ‘from outer space’ that optimises irrigation will be among hundreds of products and solutions showcased at this month’s Irrigation Australia International Conference and Exhibition.

Registrations are now open for both the conference and free exhibition – the southern hemisphere’s largest and highest-profile irrigation event. To be held at Sydney’s International Convention Centre from June 13-15, more than 80 speakers and 165 exhibitors and covering the entire irrigation value chain will be featured.

Bryan Ward, Irrigation Australia’s CEO, said: “As well as the many, many new products and solutions on display at the exhibition, we will also have a New Product Showcase. This space is dedicated to products that have been released in the past six to 12 months, which have been judged by a panel as offering stand-out benefits to irrigators.”

“As well as the New Product Showcase there will also be a dedicated Rainwater Harvest Zone, created to allow attendees to easily see and compare products and ask questions of experts in this continually growing area.

“There will also be a series of Showcase Theatre sessions – a must for those wanting to see and understand products in a more hands-on environment. Each of these runs for 20 minutes and will cover a broad range of areas. They are an excellent way for everyone in the irrigation industry to keep themselves informed of issues.”

Energy-saving products and highly advanced technology are common themes among this year’s exhibitor offerings.

Manna Irrigation Intelligence, from Rivulis Irrigation, is a sensor-free, software-based solution providing site-specific irrigation recommendations at the touch of a button – without in-ground sensors. It empowers growers to confidently make irrigation decisions by providing irrigation recommendations specific to the individual crops and environments.

Manna gives growers a high-resolution, integrated view of their entire field, rather than readings from isolated, disparate locations.

Sensing+ for Agriculture, from Australian agtech company The Yield, is an on-farm sensing, analytics and app solution that helps farmers make the best-informed decisions about when to irrigate, spray and harvest their crops. Sensing+ captures the micro-climate information and relays this into its analytics platform, then using artificial intelligence to make accurate, seven-day predictions, with all these insights available on an app on the grower’s smart phone.

A new powerful, flexible irrigation-control system from Australian company Easy Automation simplifies the task of fine-tuning irrigating in unpredictable weather conditions. For instance, avoiding fungal growth in some crops, such as grapes, can be difficult.

This system allows irrigation start times to automatically adapt to the changing times of local sunrise, solar noon and sunset, facilitating watering during the best daylight hours hence reducing the chance of fungal infections due to unevaporated moisture and to minimise the adverse impact of heat stress due to internal plant temperature in the heat of the day.

Geo9’s scientifically advanced groundwater-exploration service removes the guesswork from drilling and groundwater management, with expert geological advice and 3D aquifer maps. The affordable services relate to groundwater for any use and any quality – fresh, saline or contaminated.

They give farmers systematic scientific groundwater-exploration, aquifer-mapping and dam-seepage services, tracking at all levels of agricultural activity.

For government bodies, there’s the ability to gather more information at a local scale to use in furthering their regional understanding of groundwater, such as used by the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries in a project for the Flinders and Gilbert River assessment. Geo9’s technology also has application for water managers.

Ward said: “Irrigation Australia encourages those across the irrigation spectrum to avail themselves of the chance to see the absolute latest in irrigation products, as well as connect with similar-minded industry professionals and visit the 2018 Irrigation Australia International Conference and Exhibition.”