MOSCOW, Idaho-Researchers from the University of Idaho and Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE) with offices in El Salvador and Costa Rica are working with rural farmers in El Salvador to improve irrigation water use efficiency and vegetable production for 10 irrigation systems.
The CATIE-University of Idaho partnership funded by the Millennium Challenge Corp. focuses on improving economic conditions in northern El Salvador.
U of I water quality engineers Jan Boll and Erin Brooks and rural sociologist J.D. Wulfhorst are helping farmers share resources more efficiently.
In mid-March a team of University of Idaho undergraduates from the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering visited the area to contribute their efforts to the project while expanding their own educational experiences.
Students will help design pipelines for water delivery to replace earthen channels. New stream flow measurement equipment and weather stations will help farmers determine how much irrigation water is available.
Moisture sensors will aid efficient irrigation scheduling.