Question 68

General reporter : Juan Antonio Rodríguez Díaz

Juan Antonio Rodríguez Díaz is a Full Professor of Hydraulic Engineering at University of Córdoba. He has held a PhD in Agricultural Engineering since 2004, and his doctoral thesis focused on the use of benchmarking techniques and the development of management indicators for the sustainable use of resources in Spanish irrigated agriculture.

His current research focuses on optimizing the waterenergy nexus in irrigation networks, the use of renewable energy for irrigation water supply, the application of artificial intelligence and big data to water management, and the adoption of precision irrigation systems.

He has led and participated in more than 50 research and technology-transfer projects, with a particular impact on water–energy optimization, the integration of renewable energy in irrigated agriculture, and the development of innovative technological solutions such as applications for efficient water management. He has authored over 100 publications in scientific journals, as well as 60 additional outputs including book chapters, outreach magazines, and technical reports, and has contributed extensively to national and international conferences.

Work on reclaimed water reuse for agricultural irrigation (water reuse):

He is the Principal Investigator at the University of Córdoba for the I-ReWater project, which focuses on the use of reclaimed water for agricultural irrigation in the SUDOE region. Within this project, UCO leads pilot actions in woody and horticultural crops and collaborates on developing a digital platform/decision-support system to improve decision-making and fertigation management when using reclaimed water.  

Also in line with the efficient and sustainable use of reclaimed water for irrigation, he has been the principal investigator at the University of Córdoba of the projects Reutivar (https://reutivar.eu/), Reutivar 2.0 ( https://reutivar2.eu/), and Hagro (https://hagro.es/). These projects belong to the call for Operational Groups (OG) within the CAP Strategic Plan (PEPAC) and are funded through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). OG projects are associations of rural stakeholders with diverse profiles (farmers, stakeholders, private companies, research centers, etc.) that temporarily join forces to develop an innovative project aimed at solving a problem or taking advantage of an opportunity in the agri-food and forestry sector.

In addition, he has co-authored applied research and tools aimed at precision fertigation and nutrient management under reclaimed-water irrigation, particularly in olive orchards. This includes an open-source application designed to support farmers and technicians in optimizing irrigation and fertilization when irrigating with reclaimed water.  His work also addresses how reclaimed water quality can change along pressurised irrigation distribution networks, affecting nutrient forms and fertilization needs.

He co-authored studies on the spatio-temporal variability of nitrogen in a reclaimed-water irrigation network for olive trees, highlighting nitrification processes from pumping stations to farms and implications for fertilizer requirements.

More recently, he is co-author of NITRINET, a predictive model developed to simulate nitrification processes in pressurised irrigation networks fed with reclaimed water, applied to a real irrigation district case study in southern Spain. This line of work supports more accurate estimation of nutrient loads delivered to farms and better fertigation planning under reclaimed-water reuse schemes.

Among his most important achievements is receiving the WatSave Award from the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage in 2004, in recognition of his contributions to water saving and efficient water use. He was a Ramón y Cajal Programme researcher (2008 call) and was also one of the guarantor researchers supporting the University of Córdoba’s Department of Agronomy in obtaining the María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence distinction. He has supervised more than 10 PhD theses.