Irrigation and nutrient management are key components of agricultural production that have a strong impact on plants’ resistance to herbivorous insects as well as the agroecological food webs that determine the quality of natural pest control ecosystem services. The adoption of high-density breeds has raised earnings of small farmers. It has, however, also lowered the water table and thereby raised irrigation costs for non-rainfed farms and rendered crops more vulnerable to water stress. The links between water, nutrient and ecology nexus, at the field level are not well understood in many agricultural systems.
The aim of this workshop is to bring together researchers from the academia and the industry, extension agents, and farmers in the fields of irrigation, ecology, sensors, IoT, and artificial intelligence in order to exchange ideas and develop concrete proposals for academia-industry-farmer partnerships in research projects that will lead to technologies relevant to real-world smallholder farms.
