Intelligent IoT-multiagent precision irrigation approach for improving water use efficiency in irrigation systems at farm and district scales

The fourth industrial revolution in agriculture seeks the automation of traditional practices, using modern smart technologies. Advances in electronics, computation and the internet of things are integrated for improving field inputs management. The aim of this paper is to present the design and implementation of an intelligent IoT-multiagent precision irrigation approach for improving water use efficiency in irrigation systems. The study site was the large-scale irrigation and drainage district of Chicamocha and Firavitoba (Usochicamocha) located in Boyacá - Colombia, where water is distributed from the Chicamocha riverbed. In the proposed system, irrigation is supervised and controlled in each field by an intelligent irrigation agent that autonomously prescribes and applies water amounts with agronomical criteria. The methodology was applied with real (cyber-physical) and virtual (simulated) intelligent agents and was extended to eleven pump stations that supply water to 5911 fields. Using a MQTT protocol, hundreds of irrigation intelligent agents report water prescriptions and crop characteristics to a master agent in each pump station, who creates a regional irrigation map to manage georeferenced field information and performs negotiation of water resources between agents according to supply availability. Field maps and intelligent irrigation agents can be visualized using devices with internet access. Results demonstrated that irrigation amounts were correctly applied on the fields, thus improving the water use efficiency. This technology is a novel support to decision-making in water resources management applications at field and district scales.