By Clint Thompson
Thanks to its pledge to help farmers use irrigation more efficiently, the University of Georgia’s C.M. Stripling Irrigation Research Park has been included in the Georgia Water Coalition’s 2018 Clean 13 Report.
The Georgia Water Coalition is a group of organizations and entities within the state that are committed to protecting and caring for Georgia’s water sources. The group publishes its Clean 13 Report annually to highlight entities that are accomplishing extraordinary work toward protecting water resources. For more information, see www.gawater.org/clean-13.
“Water conservation and water efficiencyarekind of what we’re all about and why we were created. It’s a nice recognition of what we do every day at the park,” said Calvin Perry, superintendent of Stripling Irrigation Research Park. “We have a lot of scientists and Extension specialists that do the hard work, and we’re the ones that are really getting recognized for their hard work in this case.”
On March 14, 2019, the Georgia Water Coalition will host its second annual Clean 13 Celebration at Mason Fine Art in Atlanta where Stripling research park and its staff will be honored during a gala awards ceremony.
Between 10 and 12 scientists conduct water-related research at Stripling research park, which is a branch station of the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Most of the researchers are based on the UGA Tifton campus, although the park has hosted research by scientists from Auburn University, University of Florida and the United States Department of Agriculture.
Research is performed on various crops like cotton, corn, peanuts, soybeans, sweet corn and vegetables. Collaborative projects with manufacturers of pivots, sprinklers and sensors are also conducted.
According to Perry, crops from 1,027 research plots will be harvested this year. Of the 130 acres that make up the park, 75 are being used for research. All test plots are irrigation-driven with an emphasis on increasing efficiency.
“Scientists are getting the data that we can take to the growers to show what varieties are more efficient; what crops are more efficient; what sprinkler hardware is more efficient; what scheduling method is more efficient and effective,” Perry said.
Stripling research park is a state-of-the-art irrigation research and education center located on Georgia Highway 37 between Camilla, Georgia, and Newton, Georgia. Its primary research involves cutting-edge technologies in the field of precision irrigation and precision agriculture.