The present study shows a methodology analysing the role plaid by information in conditioning the criteria used to schedule irrigation by farmers. The method is applied to the problem of comparing advanced instruments (advice services) and prevailing current practices (calendar irrigation) in valuing and predicting soil water content to schedule irrigation. Such assessment approach brought to the formulation of two main hypotheses: a) the message service is valuable if those messages with higher failure consequences are enough accurate to drive decisions; b) The use of information services to plan irrigation is favoured by the increasing frequencies of irrigation intervention because of the relatively lower expected consequences of failing to meet predictions. This methodology was applied to few pilot experiments. Observed impacts substantiate model hypothesis, revealing that the introduction of advanced information systems is favoured in sub-arid climate regions and for drip irrigated crops, where it was recorded a 0% to 20% increase in gross margin and a 10% to 30% water saving. The study concludes addressing the condition justifying the use of advanced information systems to schedule irrigation intervention and offering some policy recommendation to drive the development and the early adoption of such technologies .
Acknowledgement : The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community s Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement No. KBBE-2012-311903 (FIGARO). The authors gratefully acknowledge the FIGARO consortium as a whole, with particular reference to representatives of the Canale Emiliano Romagnolo (Italy), Aarhus University (Denmark), the University of Lisbon (Portugal), and the Regional Union of Municipalities of Eastern Macedonia-Thrace (Greece) for having provided data and other technical information.
