As pressure mounts across the Southern Great Plains to conserve dwindling water resources while sustaining agricultural production, researchers, educators and policymakers from across the nation will gather next week at the National Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock to examine how satellite technology and precision agriculture can help chart a more resilient future.
'It's exciting as this multi-institutional team is working towards developing new and innovative tools that are both farm-specific and scalable across borders to address challenges surrounding water scarcity.'
Hosted by Texas Tech’s Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, the two-day Satellite-enabled Resilient Ag Project, or SatRAP, annual meeting will take place May 19-20. The gathering will bring together scientists and collaborators from universities, federal agencies and extension programs working to strengthen agricultural systems dependent on the rapidly declining High Plains Aquifer.
“It's exciting as this multi-institutional team is working towards developing new and innovative tools that are both farm-specific and scalable across borders to address challenges surrounding water scarcity,” said Krishna Jagadish, Interim Chair and Thornton Distinguished Chair in Texas Tech’s Department of Plant & Soil Science. “The two-day convergence will help access progress and chart the next steps towards the larger goal of extending the life of the Ogallala Aquifer and sustain economic sustainability in the region.”
Jagadish also directs the Texas Coalition for Sustainable Integrated Systems Research Program and the Davis College Water Center, and coordinates the Texas Alliance for Water Conservation, initiatives that collectively advance sustainable water use and crop productivity across Texas’ diverse agricultural regions.
Funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food & Agriculture Sustainable Agricultural Systems initiative, the project is designed to help producers across the Southern Great Plains adapt to changing production scenarios, improve water-use efficiency and sustain long-term food production through advanced monitoring technologies and data-driven management.
The initiative is housed within the Kansas State Water Institute and includes partnerships with Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, and several additional institutions across the country.
“We’re proud to host this important conference which directly addresses Davis College's commitment to promoting long-term water security and sustainability for agriculture,” said Darren Hudson, associate dean for strategic initiatives and assessment and the Larry Combest Endowed Chair for Agricultural Competitiveness.
“Water is a critical regional resource and promoting conservation and sustainability requires multi-institutional efforts like the SatRAP project to have maximum impact,” he said.
The conference will open Tuesday morning with welcoming remarks from Susan Metzger, the project’s USDA SatRAP program director, followed by research overviews examining the project’s three central aims: socio-economic analysis, technical development, and education and outreach.
Among the featured presentations will be updates on satellite-based evapotranspiration monitoring through NASA’s OpenET platform from Forrest Melton, alongside discussions on agricultural policy research, field validation studies and precision irrigation technologies.
Additional sessions will highlight mentorship initiatives for undergraduate and graduate students, including Texas Tech-led efforts to connect emerging researchers with faculty mentors and community engagement opportunities.
Researchers from Kansas State University, the University of Kansas, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech also will present findings related to groundwater management, crop water-use monitoring and decision-support technologies intended to help producers navigate increasingly constrained water supplies.
Tuesday afternoon breakout sessions will focus on data dissemination strategies, collaborative planning and development of Year 2 research objectives.
The conference’s second day shifts toward outreach and field-based demonstrations, beginning with presentations involving the Texas 4-H Water Ambassadors program and an educational simulation centered on the Ogallala Aquifer.
Participants then will travel to Texas Tech’s SatRAP research field near the university’s Fiber & Biopolymer Research Institute, where post-doctoral fellow Oluatola Adedeji and farm manager Shane Jacob will lead demonstrations of integrated irrigation and monitoring systems used to support precision agriculture research. Texas Tech’s FBRI is a premier, 110,000-square-foot academic facility dedicated to natural fiber and textile research. It’s located roughly six miles east of the main campus.
Attendees will observe a range of technologies designed to measure crop and environmental conditions in real time, including eddy covariance systems used for evapotranspiration analysis, soil moisture sensing platforms, autonomous pivot irrigation systems and rainfall monitoring equipment.
CONTACT: Krishna Jagadish, Interim Chair and Professor, Department of Plant & Soil Science, Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Texas Tech University at (806) 834-7953 or kjagadish.sv@ttu.edu
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