New Algae System Helps Arizona Farmers Grow Better Crops With Less Water

By Marshall Terrill

Ed Curry is passionate about the green, red and yellow chile peppers he grows on his 3,000-acre farm in Pearce, Arizona, about 90 minutes southeast of Tucson.

He’s also passionate about saving water.

A new technology Arizona State University is analyzing and promoting has combined his love for spice and conservation.

“On the farm we have a saying: Make more crop per drop,” said Curry, who founded Curry Seed & Chile Co. in 1976 and is a member of Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs’ Water Policy Council. “Our goal here is to cut our water usage whenever we can.”

Curry said he cut about 50% of his water usage in the 1990s by going to a drip system. More recently, he estimates he’s cut another 10% through a new soil service.

ASU and MyLand, a Phoenix-based soil health company, demonstrated how soil health innovation can drive measurable water conservation at Curry’s farm at an event on May 14. This is achieved by using live, native microalgae to improve soil so that farmers like Curry can achieve greater water efficiency, increased yields and reduced environmental impact.

With more than 900,000 acres of irrigated farmland in Arizona, the potential for large-scale impact is significant.

“This is a carbon story and a water story because atmospheric carbon is being converted into food, using water as the medium,” said Enrique Vivoni, Fulton Professor of Hydrosystems Engineering in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment and the director of the Center for Hydrologic Innovations. “Our goal is between 7% to 15% water savings to demonstrate the water efficiency gains from better soil health.”

Thanks to a grant administered through the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona, the project will provide free access to a nature-based soil health technology across thousands of acres of Arizona's commercial farmland. This effort aims to enhance water efficiency, reduce water consumption and improve water quality in the state's agriculture sector.

“I’m really excited to see these kinds of efforts,” said Paul E. Brierley, director of the Arizona Department of Agriculture, who was also at the event in Pearce. “I once headed a commission titled the Advisory Commission on the Future of Food and Agriculture Production in the Drying Climate. I found that one of the most challenging things was getting people to focus on agricultural production because everybody wanted to solve climate change, or they wanted to augment the water supply.