In Issue 06 of PotatoLink magazine, Ryan Hall looks at the accessibility and mobility of technology available to growers in the form of drones, remote sensing and smartphone apps.

IrriSAT, is a free satellite-based irrigation scheduling app. It combines satellite images with weather data to estimate crop water use. Learn how it works and what you can use it for.

This NSW case study has shown that IrriSAT satellite images, used to monitor irrigation, can also help potato growers identify soil and irrigation problems across the pivot. Fixing the problems identified in this case study would have increased yield and revenue by between $7,600 and $10,800 under this half pivot.

This case study explains how the irrigation tool, IrriSAT, combined with soil moisture monitoring, provided important information to the grower about crop water requirements and actual soil moisture levels. This enabled him to manage his crop irrigation to maximise yield and quality.