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By June 15 gasoline-powered augers will have drilled 100 holes inthe corn, cotton and peanut fields of the Lower Flint River Basinin southwest Georgia. Into the holes, scientists from theUniversity of Georgia (U.G.A.) will slip half-meter-long PVC pipesfilled with sensors for soil moisture and temperature topped with aflexible antenna that can be run over by a tractor and spring backinto place. Over the course of the next two years, these sensorswill continuously relay soil conditions from 20, 40 and 60centimeters deep to a computer. Combined with more accurate weather forecasts , the data will help farmers decide where and when to use theirirrigation systems. "The biggest problem we've got with irrigation is we justdon't know—we use old wives' tales to decide when toirrigate," says farmer Marty Tabb, who will host the probes ina field at his 1,050-hectare Bushwater Farm near Colquitt, Ga., tohelp him irrigate corn, cotton and peanut crops. In addition tosaving water (agriculture is responsible for 70 percent of human water use globally), the technology can also help produce more crop perdrop. "Using the simplest soil monitor and a computer program,my peanut yields jumped 20 percent," Tabb reports. "Iknow, just from that, that if we learn how to water corn, cotton,wheat, we can save water because we tend to overwater." Overwatering is a major problem in the Lower Flint River Basin,which lies in a region that has been gripped by drought so severein recent years that it prompted the former governor of Georgia topray for rain. The region produces the most peanuts and pecans inthe nation, as well as vast quantities of cotton and sweet corn.And the Lower Flint River Basin is the major recharge zone for the Floridan Aquifer that supplies water to Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida,South Carolina and Georgia, as well as the home of severalendangered freshwater species, such as the flatwoods salamander andthe oval pigtoe mussel. Farmers in the Flint River Basin have a direct impact on thisgroundwater resource, because waters on the surface and belowgroundare directly linked: a hurricane's downpour in the area can replenish the aquifer, whereas too much pumping ofunderground water to irrigate fields can literally suck the waterout of surface rivers and streams. "Because of the drought andbecause of us irrigating, we have pulled water down, and thesprings along Spring Creek don't pump anymore," Tabb says ofthe Flint River tributary in his backyard. "You couldn't havetold me that creek would ever dry, but I drove my motorcycle twomiles down Spring Creek because it was so dry." In a bid to cut down on that water use—while maintaining themore than $2 billion worth of corn, cotton, peanut and other cropproduction in the region—the Nature Conservancy and the U.S.Department of Agriculture, along with U.G.A. and the University ofFlorida, teamed with more than 1,000 local farmers starting in2000. The partnership started by switching some irrigation systemsfrom high pressure mists to a low pressure system that moredirectly mimicked rain, saving water and energy. When applying athigh pressure "you lose water to wind drift and alsoevaporation," explains David Reckford, director of this Flint River Basin Partnership for the Conservancy. The switch to a low pressure system alone canreduce water use by more than 22 percent. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Fishing Tackle Accessories Manufacturer , Fishing Tackle Trolley Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Fishing Pole Rollers.
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