IRRIGATION & WATER MANAGEMENT A temperature sensor monitor in a grape canopy records conditions for a heat-stress mitigation project. Photos by Paola Pesantez-Cabrera. On-farm AI W Water, farm and labor research to guide decisions as climate changes BY CHRIS KOGER CONTRIBUTING EDITOR ashington State University is leading an effort to tackle three distinct areas where artificial intelligence (AI) use can help agriculture meet challenges posed by changing weather: farm operations, water allocation and labor. The AgAID AI Institute for Transforming Workforce & Decision Support (AgAID) is researching AI-driven models to help address water scarcity with big-picture water policy decisions, as well as on-farm practices to limit irrigation water use. 6 | MAY/JUNE 2024 " How can we bring in AI approaches to get estimates of consumptive use, better estimates of stream flows, better estimates of water availability for agriculture, and improve regional decision-making and drought response? " said Kirti Rajagopalan, assistant professor in WSU's Department of Biological Systems Engineering. She and Samarth Swarup, at the University of Virginia Biocomplexity Institute, lead the water intelligence research team at AgAID. Priorities of the program include: * Expertise and knowledge capture should happen with minimal disruption of work. * Decision support systems should provide data and visualizations that are as close as possible to the