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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Dawson, Georgia » National Peanut Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #371739
Research Project: Enhanced Sustainable Peanut-based Cropping Systems

Location: National Peanut Research Laboratory

Title: Irrigator Pro: progression of a peanut irrigation scheduling decision support system

Author
item Butts, Christopher - Chris
item Sorensen, Ronald - Ron
item Lamb, Marshall

Submitted to: Decennial National Irrigation Symposium
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/13/2020
Publication Date: 6/8/2022
Citation: Butts, C.L., Sorensen, R.B., Lamb, M.C. 2022. Irrigator Pro: progression of a peanut irrigation scheduling decision support system. Decennial National Irrigation Symposium. 36(5): 785-795. https://doi.org/10.13031/aea.13909.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.13031/aea.13909

Interpretive Summary: Irrigator Pro is a decision support tool for scheduling irrigation in peanut. It was released in 1995 as a rule-based expert system called EXNUT, using crop history, yield potential, soil type in addition to in-season irrigation/rainfall and maximum/minimum soil temperature. When it was originally released, it also provided recommendations for fungicide applications, and alerts to scout for either high or low temperature pests depending on field conditions. As computing platforms have progressed from desktop personal computers to mobile web-based platforms, Irrigator Pro has been updated and is now deployed as a web-based program and an application for mobile devices. The current version of Irrigator Pro is limited to irrigation scheduling only. The irrigation decisions are now based on in-field soil water potential measurements in addition to the traditional checkbook with max/min soil temperatures. Users are individual growers, extension agents, and agronomic consultants.

Technical Abstract: Irrigator Pro is a decision support tool for scheduling irrigation in peanut. It was deployed in 1995 as a rule-based expert system using crop history, yield potential, soil type in addition to in-season irrigation/rainfall and maximum/minimum soil temperature. As computing platforms have progressed from desktop personal computers to mobile web-based platforms, Irrigator Pro has been updated and is now deployed as a web-based program and an application for mobile devices. The irrigation decisions are now based on in-field soil water potential measurements in addition to the traditional checkbook with max/min soil temperatures. Users are individual growers, extension agents, and agronomic consultants.