Due to the effects of climate change, in particular the increasingly frequent, intense and widespread periods of drought especially in south-western Europe, the agricultural sector will be particularly susceptible as the supply of freshwater decreases. To address this challenge, a consortium, within the framework of the European Sudoe programme, is launching a new project called Smart Green Water with the aim of improving water use in agriculture with smart technology.
The consortium has the participation of 9 entities from Spain, France and Portugal. The leader of the project is the Euroregion Pyrenees-Mediterranean Pyrenees and the other partners are the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Instituto de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentarias (IRTA), the University of Cordoba, the Unión de Pequeños Agricultores y Ganaderos, the Cámara Oficial de Comercio, Industria y Servicios de Badajoz, the Chambre d’agriculture de Nouvelle Aquitaine, Agri Sud-ouest Innovation and the Centro Operativo e de Tecnologia de Regadio.
The main objective of the Smart Green Water initiative is to create a transnational strategy to foster the creation, implementation and potential of integrated solutions for irrigated farms to meet the demands of smart and sustainable agriculture in order to accelerate the digital transformation of agriculture.
One of the first actions to be carried out by the project is the realisation of a territorial diagnosis on digitisation in irrigation (digital twins, …). This diagnosis consists of surveys, seminars and meetings with farmers and professionals specialised in digital irrigation systems. This will allow a better understanding of the needs that farmers have about these technologies.
In order to facilitate farmers’ access to information, an online mapping of the actors and ressources currently available in the Sudoe territory will be made available. A training programme will also be set up for professionals in the sector to develop new digital skills in water irrigation and on-farm demonstrations will be carried out.
During the project, a platform will be made available that will provide access to the tools developed by the consortium and will allow farmers, companies and technology centres or universities to exchange with each other.