Within the FruitCREWS COST Action, Working Group 4 (WG4) focuses on identifying and evaluating decision support tools (DSTs) that help farmers manage irrigation more efficiently in fruit orchards. These tools are designed to support growers in scheduling irrigation in a way that improves productivity while using water resources more efficiently. Since the start of the Action, WG4 has worked on collecting and analysing both commercial and experimental decision support tools used for irrigation management.
One of the first tasks of the group was to map existing irrigation decision support tools developed for fruit tree crops. Through consultation with the FruitCREWS community and its wider network, WG4 identified more than 30 tools designed to assist farmers in making irrigation decisions. These tools rely on different types of data and modelling approaches. Many combine reference evapotranspiration (ET) and crop factors, crop–soil–water models, and various sensing technologies.
The most commonly used input data for these systems include weather station data, soil water measurements, and indicators of plant water status. Some decision support tools also incorporate information derived from remote sensing technologies, such as satellite or drone imagery, which use crop and crop-water indices to estimate water needs. By combining these different sources of information, the tools can help farmers determine the optimal timing and amount of irrigation, predict crop stress and potential yields, and identify problems within irrigation systems.
Despite the availability of these tools, WG4 found that only a small proportion of growers currently use decision support systems for irrigation management. To better understand the reasons behind this limited adoption, the group focused during the third year of the Action on conducting a survey among fruit growers and other stakeholders.
So far, WG4 has collected more than 250 responses from stakeholders across 15 countries. The survey was conducted in several local languages and later translated into a unified English format to allow consistent analysis. The collected responses are currently being analysed, and the results will provide valuable insights into the main drivers and barriers influencing the adoption of irrigation decision support tools.
In the final year of the Action, WG4 will focus on analysing and disseminating the results of the growers’ survey. The aim is to better understand the factors that encourage or hinder the use of decision support systems in fruit production. These findings may help researchers, technology developers and agricultural advisors improve the design and communication of irrigation tools. In addition, the results could support the development of policy recommendations, which may be discussed during the final FruitCREWS Annual Meeting in order to translate the findings into practical and actionable insights.
According to Dr Alon Ben-Gal, leader of WG4:
“The work of WG4 strengthens our ability to support growers with reliable irrigation tools. The strength of the FruitCREWS community and its collaborative environment has enabled evaluation of social and economic behaviour, whose change is necessary to accelerate adoption of innovation across Europe.”
Through its work on decision support systems and grower adoption, WG4 contributes directly to the FruitCREWS mission of strengthening the connection between scientific knowledge and practical orchard management. By identifying available tools, analysing their strengths and limitations, and understanding the barriers to their use, WG4 helps promote more effective irrigation practices for fruit tree crops across Europe.
Working Group Leader:
Dr Alon Ben-Gal
Agricultural Research Organization – Volcani Institute, Israel
bengal@volcani.agri.gov.il