The rising world population, leading to higher demand for food, and water resource scarcity due to climate change are critical challenges for the agricultural industry. Smart irrigation as a way of optimizing water and energy resource usage is shaping up as a pivotal part of the solution.
The digital transformation of irrigation involves real-time monitoring to continuously supervise processes and systems through sensors and IoT devices; remote control and alarm notification to operate equipment from a control center and receive instant information on system faults and failures; data analytics to spot patterns and trends; simulation models (or digital twins) to forecast network performance under different scenarios and make informed decisions, and remote sensing to optimize crop irrigation frequency and dosage.
According to Begoña Tarrazona, real-time data management transforms irrigation efficiency and sustainability by enabling better informed, more responsible decision-making
Xylem Vue also points out that integrated remote control and decision support platforms that embrace technologies such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are revolutionizing agricultural management. Platforms integrating GIS for irrigation association infrastructures together with real-time data on water usage, crop vigor, and soil moisture conditions unlock more informed, faster decision-making through dynamic representations.
This can enhance operational efficiency, optimize resource usage, and enable problems to be identified and remedied before they turn into critical failures.
Three key smart irrigation technology trends for 2025
The Xylem Vue platform, set up through the partnership between Xylem and Idrica, has pinpointed three smart agricultural irrigation technology trends that will be crucial this year in the company’s recently published “Water Technology Trends 2025: revolutionizing water management” report.
- Remote metering and water control
Remote metering will continue to be an essential tool in modernizing irrigation associations, enabling accurate readings in real time, fewer human errors, and an optimized billing cycle. Furthermore, “monitoring water use at plot level in irrigation associations and agribusiness will enable greater supervision of financial allocations and generate water footprint ratios by crop type,” commented Begoña Tarrazona, an Irrigation Specialist at Idrica.
“Fitting sector flow meters and pressure sensors in the irrigation network will be essential for early leak detection by scrutinizing historical and real-time data,” she added.
- Remote sensing and advanced algorithms
Satellite image processing enables the calculation of normalized indices including NDVI, NDWI, and NDMI, which furnish detailed maps of crop health and soil moisture status. When integrated with embedded algorithms that model the soil-plant-atmosphere water balance and harness weather forecasting, these technologies help to fine-tune crop irrigation needs, optimizing water and energy use in operations such as pumping, thus fostering more sustainable management in the coming years.
- Integrated digital platforms
Finally, Xylem Vue underscores the role of holistic digital platforms, which will be critical in 2025 to centralize data and improve irrigation decision-making. These integrated remote control and decision support system platforms will reshape the way irrigation infrastructures are run, enabling greater efficiency and safety, as well as the capacity to cope with changing situations.
These solutions will also help track energy ratios in pumping systems, including setting alarms for significant deviations, and include data from solar photovoltaic plants to prioritize their operation and cut their carbon footprint.
Fast-tracking irrigation modernization and digitalization
According to Begoña Tarrazona, real-time data management transforms irrigation efficiency and sustainability by enabling better informed, more responsible decision-making.
These innovations, backed by initiatives such as Strategic Economic Recovery and Transformation Projects within Spain’s Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan through the European Next Generation mechanism, the Saudi Water Partnership Company & Vision 2030 in Saudi Arabia, the WaterSMART Program in the United States, and Smart Water Affairs in China, will fast-track the modernization and digitalization of irrigation associations and agribusinesses in the coming years.
The benefits irrigation associations and agribusinesses gain by rolling out holistic decision support system platforms include optimizing water and energy resource use, leakage and consumption control, and operational efficiency.
