On-Farm Water Management Game With Heuristic Capabilities

Improved on-farm irrigation practices can result in more economical farming, and better productivity. Very little has been done with regard to improved training tools that can be used to promote better and more effective on-farm irrigation practices. Games considered as an effective decision support tools in which players are able to test alternatives, and demonstrate the effects of their decisions, in a short time, and without being afraid of making mistakes. Training tools in the form of games promotes what is called “learning based on experience” through a schematic version of reality, and observing the effects. The WaterMan game was developed on the sense of being a training tool for onfarm water management, and to offers an interactive framework with different technical and operational options that allow the user to develop scenarios and test alternatives in a convenient environment. A very detailed, consistence, and robust technical model that reflect and respond to various alternatives was developed within the software. Heuristic capabilities were employed in the software, to provide more realistic modeling for the important aspects of on-farm water management, and to automatically analyze the performance of the player, based on optimal scenarios, to provide feedback and recommendations at the end of the play. Artificial intelligence capabilities were also included in the software to anticipate player level of skills in irrigation and to reply back with different random events based on the anticipated level to provide a potentially more challenging game play. These capabilities provide the unique characteristics of WaterMan as a game with unpredictable scenarios, thereby making it more challenging and more engaging, and an enhanced tool for learning. Two options of game play were developed to accommodate different trainee requirements and interests: “quick play” and “play.” If the player chooses the “quick play” option, he or she will move directly to play with a predetermined set of input data. If the player chooses the “play” option, a new window for data input appears, and the player is asked to select from various options. The model has many options of crops, climatic zones, water delivery methods, irrigation methods, and soil texture, in addition to a flexible planting dates. Twenty-two persons were asked to play the WaterMan game and to give their feedback. The majority of the players classify the game as an excellent training tool for on-farm water management with some very challenging random events. The technical module of the game was validated in two ways: conducting mass-balance calculations for the daily soil water and salt content, and comparing the game-generated results of irrigation water requirements and irrigation scheduling calculations with those generated by the FAO CropWat 8 software