PLANTS could soon be telling farmers when they need a drink.
Adelaide company Measurement Engineering Australia has won an AusIndustry grant of $243,968 to develop an innovative plant-based irrigation scheduling sensor.
The sensor will continuously measure changes in a plant's internal water content.
MEA director Andrew Skinner said the sensor used a technique called thermal diffusivity, which injected heat into plant tissue to measure any changes in water content.
"By measuring the changes, it is possible to determine a plant's water status and therefore whether water is required and how much," Mr Skinner said.
The sensor would primarily be designed for irrigators of crops such as grapes, olives, citrus, fruit and nuts.
"The potential cost savings for irrigators is significant," Mr Skinner said.
"Savings can be made in the cost of water and energy from reduced pumping costs.
"Longer-term benefits from reduced soil salinity can also be achieved."
Mr Skinner said the sensor would be the next generation of irrigation-scheduling tools and would easily integrate into most environmental recorders.
"Irrigators are under increasing pressure to use their water entitlements wisely and demand for new monitoring system technology is increasing," he said.
"Irrigators need to be able to put their trust in monitoring technology and know that their productivity and yields will either be improved or at least maintained."
The technical input for the project would come from Mr Skinner's work on thermal diffusivity with additional support from CSIRO scientists Prof Brian Loveys and Dr Everard Edwards.
MEA will conduct field trials at sites the CSIRO is using for other research programs, such as Yalumba's Oxford Landing orchard and vineyard, near Waikerie.
MEA has been producing environmental monitoring systems such as automatic weather stations, soil moisture monitors and wind and solar energy site identification for 25 years.
Earlier this year, the company launched My Farm, a website that allows farmers to monitor their farms from a home computer.
The project is an extension of the Automatic Weather Station Monitoring Network developed for Riverland irrigators last year.
In addition to environmental data - temperature, humidity, soil moisture level and frost risk - the My Farm system provides other information such as milk vat temperatures or voltage levels for electric fences. Data can then be used to make management decisions.
MEA's systems are used throughout Australia and exported to Chile, India, Iran, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom.
They are used by research institutions, conservation and land management organisations, power and water utilities, engineers, mining companies and farmers and irrigators.
The grant comes under AusIndustry's Climate Ready Program, which funds research and development into solutions to address climate change.
