Integrating Intelligent Irrigation Systems Across Morocco’s Cultivated Spaces: A Strategic Assessment for Sustainable Water Management

Hassan First University, Faculty of Science and Technologies, EMIT laboratory, Settat, Morocco

^* Corresponding author: anass.elaabssi@gmail.com

Abstract

Managing Morocco’s scarce water resources is a major challenge, especially considering the increasing agricultural demands and climate change influencing the region. This research looks at how Intelligent Irrigation Systems (IIS) might be used in four different types of agricultural categories in Morocco: protected agriculture, traditional open-field farming, urban agriculture, and natural ecosystems. This study examined each agricultural category to assess its suitability for IIS, using a thorough evaluation process that includes infrastructural readiness, technological compatibility, economic feasibility, environmental impact, and social consequences. The research shows that traditional farming, which uses 85% of cultivated area and 70% of irrigation water, has the greatest potential for water savings (up to 70%) with precision irrigation technology. Protected agriculture is more technically ready, but traditional open-field farming is the best way for the country to save water since it has the biggest effect and the most room for growth. The study suggest a system architecture that can scaled-up and include meteorological data, modelling crop evapotranspiration, and machine learning-based soil moisture prediction to make intelligent drip irrigation possible in typical agricultural settings. The results show that using targeted IIS in traditional farming might save a lot of water and help Morocco move toward sustainable digital agriculture. This would make this sector the basis for national initiatives to modernize irrigation.