On Farm Trial of the Effect of Sensor Based Irrigation Management on Storage Onion Yields in Organic Production

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Commodities

• Vegetables: onions

Practices

• Crop Production: irrigation
• Energy: energy conservation/efficiency
• Production Systems: organic agriculture
• Sustainable Communities: sustainability measures

An experiment comparing the effects on water usage and yields in growing organic storage onions using low cost, battery powered, environmentally controlled sensors to automatically irrigate and current farmer irrigation decision making and execution. The objective of the study is to demonstrate that by optimizing the timing and quantity of irrigation water used over the course of the outdoor storage onion growing season, by using automated controllers and sensors, farmers can reduce their labor hours, extend the usefulness of their irrigation water supply, and improve yield of onion crops, absolutely and per unit of irrigation water applied. This experiment will produce statistically significant results which will be easy to understand and disseminate, with information relevant not only to onion production, but to all irrigated crops. The low cost of the sensor system being tested, or similar low cost systems, make the use of automated decision making widely adaptable by farmers at a price which will justify its expense through increased yields and time savings. At the conclusion of the 2 year study, a research paper will be prepared, using the results of one-way ANOVA analysis and presented at NOFA-NY’s winter growers conference, and at an on-farm demonstration of the experiment during the 2026 growing season.

This project seeks to demonstrate the advantages in automating irrigation scheduling, using low cost equipment that is accessible and financially feasible for small scale organic production.

1. Create statistically significant quantifiable results using a one-way anova model, showing the water usage and yields of sensor based, farmer based, and no supplemental irrigation vairables.

2. Compare yields to quantity of water used to demonstrate the advantages of sensor based irrigation scheduling, for units of water used (volume) per unit of Onion produced (dry weight).