With the aim of maintaining the Maipo Basin, Climo, Google and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) are bringing technology to farmers to use water in the region.
Water efficiency is a term used in agricultural irrigation management to refer to the use of water required for production. Through its irrigation management and monitoring software, Climo ClimateTech works with farmers to make decisions that help optimize water use while receiving payment for ecosystem services.
With support from Google and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF), Climo is developing a climate action plan for the Maibo River Basin. Based on this collaboration, irrigated farmers in the region who join the initiative will be able to use Climo's irrigation monitoring software to implement better agricultural practices to conserve water in the basin.
“As agriculture is a key productive activity for Chile's development, we are very excited about these projects that we are promoting with BEF and Google. Undoubtedly there are great opportunities for water savings, so creating the right incentives for farmers to adopt new technologies is an objective that we at Climo always want to accomplish, and with this project we make it possible,” says Andrea Ramos, Vice President Climate Adaptation for Climo.
The mission of this alliance and making water use more efficient through the Climo platform is a significant achievement for sustainability in the region. In addition to improving water use in agricultural irrigation, training on best practices has been included, which 1,158 farmers have already received, of which 24% are women. The development of this program will help to achieve the goal announced by Google in 2021, the company commits to responsible water management and to achieve the specific objective of replacing 120% of fresh water on average in offices and health centers by 2030.
How does the irrigation monitoring software, one of Climo's climate solutions, work?
One of the solutions offered by Climo is software that collects meteorological data from public stations and uses it to calculate hyperlocal evapotranspiration. In turn, multiple satellites and artificial intelligence are used to develop a specific crop coefficient for each sector.
All of that process and technology implementation is translated into precise, plain-language irrigation recommendations that Climo provides to farmers, allowing them to irrigate their fields at the right and necessary levels.
Farmers use software developed by Climo to monitor soil and crop water status in real time. Thanks to the project promoted by BEF, Kilimo and Google, they participate in the initiative, invest in Kilimo's software, and after the first year of working together receive financial recognition for the ecosystem service.
These results demonstrate the positive impact of collaborative action, which brings together actors from different industries for the maintenance of the Maipo Basin. For its part, Guilimo is committed to continuing to work with farmers to promote more efficient use of water and contribute to the sustainability of the agricultural sector in Chile.
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