Tifton – For the last three years, Georgia’s Agriculture Innovation Center (AgIC) has collaborated with a host of statewide partners to connect a five-county region of rural southwest Georgia to high-speed wireless broadband service.

The project culminated when South Georgia Regional Information Technology Authority (SGRITA), located in Arlington, announced work has started on phase one, building the infrastructure. When complete, high-speed Internet services will be available in Baker, Calhoun, Early, Miller, and Mitchell counties.

“Our goal was to make emerging agriculture technology like variable rate irrigation available and affordable to all farmers in this region,” said Bill Boone, director of the AgIC. “The project soon took on a life of its own, melded with a similar project and evolved to the SGRITA organization that is making it happen on the ground. Wireless access will have a significant economic development impact, from agribusiness to government, for one of the most rural regions of Georgia.”

The five-county broadband initiative grew out of a variable rate irrigation (VRI) research project started by the University of Georgia’s Tifton Campus’ National Environmentally Sound Production Agriculture Laboratory (NESPAL) working with the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District. The VRI system enables farmers to irrigate crops only as needed, and not irrigate non-cropped areas. Wireless broadband technology emerged as the key enabling factor in making the VRI technology afforadable. However, due to lack of connectivity, some rural areas could not utilize this or other wireless-dependent technologies.

“The precision irrigation project will ultimately result in conserving water and energy – and allow for increased crop yield and efficiency,” Boone explained. “Wireless access gives our Georgia growers a vital tool to combat the extreme drought conditions and skyrocketing fuel costs.”

UGA research from the VRI project opened the door for the AgIC and other partners including the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District, the Nature Conservancy and the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation office to pursue providing wireless access to other rural areas in south Georgia.

With leadership from AgIC, the collaboration received a $2.7 million Broadband Rural Initiative to Develop Georgia’s Economy grant (BRIDGE) from OneGeorgia late last year. “This project was the first in the state to receive an operational BRIDGE grant from OneGeorgia,” said Boone. In addition, the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District has provided another $1 million in federal funds for the project.

Boone expects to see remarkable improvements as a result of wireless broadband connectivity for years to come – not only in agribusiness but also in education, emergency response, healthcare and across the economic development spectrum.

“AgIC helped make vital connections for this project from accessing research through UGA, working with OneGeorgia and linking key people to bring this project to fruition,” said Boone. “We were able to help expedite research into commercialization.”

For more information about the Agriculture Innovation Center and its work helping agri-businesses prosper using technology, go to agriculture.georgiainnovation.org.

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