FLOW-AID Farm Level Optimal Water management: Assistant for Irrigation under Deficit
Country: European Union
Start Date:   1/9/2006         Duration: 36 months         Project Type: RTD
Contract Number: 
Organisation Type:  EC Project
Topics: 
Water and sanitation-->Water supply
Project objectives: 
FLOW-AID contributes to sustainable irrigated agriculture by developing a deficit irrigation management system for farm-level crop production in cases 
with limited water supply and marginal water quality. It integrates innovative sensor technologies into a decision support system, taking into consideration 
boundary conditions and constraints for a number of practical growing systems in the Mediterranean. It focuses on innovative, simple and affordable, hard- 
and software concepts; particularly a maintenance free tensiometer, a wireless and low-power sensor network; an expert system for farm zoning and crop planning 
in view of expected water availability and quality; and an irrigation scheduler for allocation of multiple water sources. The system is being evaluated at 
four sites located in Italy, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, which differ in the type of local constraints, irrigation structures, crop types, local water supplies, 
availability of water and water sources in amount and quality, the local goals, and their complexity.
Project Summary: 
FLOW-AID started in autumn 2006, and is a three year, 6th Framework European project, submitted for the priority Global Change and Ecosystems. It contributes 
to the thematic priority of developing new engineering irrigation infrastructures, management approaches, research and demonstration activities, since 
it aims at integrating innovative sensor technologies, and measurement devices, within appropriate decision support systems. It takes into consideration 
various economic, environmental and technical factors, in particular those of South European and third countries in the Mediterranean basin. The project 
is performed by a number of European universities and research institutes from the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and Turkey and two third partner 
countries Lebanon and Jordan. Three small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will adapt the general concepts to the local situation, and will build prototypes, 
which will be installed at four test-sites. The SME involvement will ensure that the results will be implemented in a short time into adequate and appropriate 
products for the end-user irrigation market.
Achieved Objectives:
Product Descriptions:
Additional Information:
Project Resources:
Weblink:
http://www.flow-aid.eu
Funding Programme(s): 
EC FP7: Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development.
Link to Organisations:
Submitted by: EUGRIS Team Professor Paul Bardos  Who does what?  31/12/2008 11:53:00