In India, the water use efficiency in agriculture is extremely low. Rising population has increased food demands and the critical issue of food and water security nexus is further compounded by erratic water availability and crop yield loss due to climate change. For sustainable agriculture, increasing water use efficiency in agriculture by significant amount is extremely critical. Further, with changing climate resulting in frequent heat waves and extreme rainfall events, crop health monitoring to ensure optimum food production has become imperative.

Dr. Gopal Das Singhal, Associate Professor, and Dr. Hitesh Upreti, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering have a collaboration with Dr. Mayank Kumar Rai, Head, Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Dadri. The collaboration has been working closely to discuss research and scientific inputs related to the agricultural practices that are currently followed by the farmers in the vicinity of the university and ways to upgrade existing knowledge and technology around agriculture. The collaboration also involves enhancing the network with the local farmers that is critical for any technological intervention for sustainable agriculture.

Through the University’s Water Management Field Laboratory, the faculty and student research team are developing AI-based decision-support systems for improved crop water use efficiency under a regulated deficit drip irrigation regime against the backdrop of climate change. The research aim is to provide /water-saving solutions for the two widely grown and consumed crops, rice and wheat. The research group conducts interactions, workshops, and training with local farmers to provide knowledge regarding different irrigation methodologies and their benefits in saving water, including soil testing, irrigation water testing, and dissemination of weather data for local farmers.

The collaboration has also planned to establish Center of Excellence and submitted joint proposal for the same to introduce end-user training and demonstration of agro-technologies to the farmers, support in validation of agro-technologies in farmer fields and field testing and disseminate information on a large scale to the farmers in the remotest areas.