NMSU civil engineering professor’s research, new app aid local farmers

Around 700 million people in 43 countries suffer from water scarcity today, according to the United Nations. Because of those alarming statistics, it’s now more important than ever that New Mexicans work to preserve the precious, irreplaceable resource.

Zohrab Samani, civil engineering professor at New Mexico State University, is doing his part by developing a digital application that will help farmers determine when and how frequently they should irrigate their crops.

iFarm, short for Intelligence Farm, is an online app that will be available for use on cellphones and computers. The program is intended to help set up a more efficient irrigation schedule by taking into consideration multiple factors.

“The request came from the farmers,” said Samani, who began developing the program in summer 2011. “Due to the recent adjudication regulations, each farmer has a fixed amount of water right, and cannot exceed that. Farmers are trying to find the best time to irrigate, so that they don’t end up wasting the limited water right they have.”

Read the full NMSU article here.

Source: New Mexico State University News and Communication