On 6 July 2026, a field activity was carried out at the Greek Demonstration Site in the Prefecture of Karditsa. TOEV Tavropou and the University of Thessaly ran a joint field activity in a working cotton field, combining two complementary tasks: laying drip irrigation tubing and installing soil moisture sensors.
A tractor-drawn applicator carrying several reels of tubing fed the drip lines out and set them along the planting rows in a single pass. The point of drip irrigation is unglamorous and considerable: water arrives at the roots instead of spreading across the whole soil surface, which cuts losses and lifts water-use efficiency.
Alongside the tubing, solar-powered soil moisture sensors were installed to record soil water content in real time. That record is what turns irrigation from habit into scheduling: instead of watering on a fixed calendar, the field tells the farmer when it is actually thirsty.
Together the two installations form the practical basis of the precision-farming, irrigation-focused decision support approach being co-designed and co-deployed at the Greek Demonstration Site. The aims are concrete: more accurate irrigation scheduling, lower water and energy consumption, and less competition for water between agriculture, tourism and hydropower in the region.
Watch the field activity on YouTube
