MERCED, Calif. — UC Merced’s experimental “smart farm” opened several years ago with a mission to integrate technology with agriculture, and it’s grown to be more than the empty plot of land it once was.
Located about a 15 minute drive from campus, the farm’s plots test everything from cross pollination in almonds to composting with climate-smart charcoal.
During a recent tour of the smart farm for Research Week at UC Merced, Barbara dos Santos, the farm’s research coordinator, said that a lot of research on the land comes from Valley farmers suggesting what problems they want solved — such as water management and crop efficiency.
“Here is a test bed where we can perform research and find answers, possible answers, to the problems that are facing agriculture nowadays,” dos Santos said.
A lot of the research that takes place on the smart farm examines sustainability within the confines of the San Joaquin Valley’s arid conditions. Recently, researchers planted a plot of guayule rubber plants and are looking to install 14 acres of agave, because they are both drought-tolerant crops that can take in more heat and require less water.
“Guayule takes seven years to be harvested, to be productive. So our goal is having different plots…where we can perform research in different stages of the plant,” dos Santos said. “With the water situation we're facing, more drought-tolerant plants mean that those plants request less water for their life cycle.”
Soon, UC Merced electrical engineering researcher Sarah Kurtz will test how solar panels can provide shade for peppers in the blazing summer sun. Last year, she tried the same experiment with watermelons and tomatoes.
Early findings, dos Santos said, revealed the biomass – or growth – of the tomatoes and watermelons didn’t change depending on the shade the solar panels provided, but both crops took longer to mature – which might have implications for farmers looking to harvest by a certain time.
Research like this, she said, provides potential ideas for growers who are considering renewable energy.
“It's getting hot, hot, hot, and farmers may lose their crops for that intense heat,” dos Santos said.
The smart farm is also open to students. Students who are part of the Ag Tech Club on campus, dos Santos said, are going to be planting sweet corn, squash and melons.
Undergraduates also learn how to plant and harvest crops and how to operate tractors and machinery. Some students on a recent tour said they’re interested in using the farm in the future.
“I saw some of the mechanical technology can be applied, for example, like the robotics,” said Ph.D. student Shiang Cao. “You can fly drones to gather data and to do analysis and to help the farmers make decisions… I would like to participate in the future [if] I have this chance to do some projects.”
Beyond farmers and students, dos Santos said researchers are also working with community partners, such as Merced College, to carry out their experiments. She’s excited for the future of the farm as more harvests take place and findings are uncovered.
“Everything [at the] farm takes a super long time,” dos Santos said. “It's a very big effort. So we're slowly building things.”
