INDUSTRY
UGA agents go back to school Workshop prepares county agents to teach irrigation management by Sharon Dowdy for CAES News Helping farmers use water wisely
UGA Extension agents from urban areas of Georgia attended an irrigation management workshop to update their knowledge on the latest technologies in the industry. The agents are shown assembling their irrigation kits that include fittings and parts for drip and spray irrigation systems, primers, glues, electrical boxes and controllers. They will use these kits to teach irrigation maintenance workshops in their counties.
is part of Extension’s mission. Now, a University of Georgia Cooperative Extension program is helping county agents in urban areas teach their clients how to manage water wisely in the landscape, especially through irrigation systems.
UAC MAGAZINE | WINTER 2020
A year ago, UGA Extension Agent Rolando Orellana was named the urban water management agent in the UGA Center for Urban Agriculture on the UGA Griffin campus.
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“When I was an agent in Cobb and then Fulton County, irrigation wasn’t something county agents had strong knowledge of. In Extension, we work closely with the state’s green industry. When I joined the Center for Urban Agriculture, our team realized this was a big need that should be addressed. Agents need to be prepared to help clients, especially landscapers, use this valuable resource as wisely as possible.” ~ Rolando Orellana Urban Water Management Agent UGA Center for Urban Agriculture
Orellana formed an advisory committee of industry professionals to get honest input from the industry. The committee agreed that
irrigation training for urban landscapers is desperately needed in urban areas. With $9,800 from an internal UGA Extension Innovation Grant and support from Georgia's green industry, Orellana developed an irrigation training specifically designed to educate UGA Extension agents in urban areas. Using the train-the-trainer model, Orellana aims to “build capacity with the agents so they can help green industry clients and consumers in their counties.” With advice from irrigation professionals across Georgia, Orellana and his Center for Urban Agriculture colleague Greg Huber compiled tool kits for county agents to use when teaching clients about irrigation usage, management and maintenance. Hunter Industries donated more than $12,000 in irrigation supplies for the kits and helped train the agents, as did representatives from Rain Bird. “This training and the equipment provided will multiply UGA Extension’s outreach and water education in 18 Georgia counties,” said Huber, who co-taught the workshop. UGA Extension agents from areas like Atlanta, Athens, Cartersville, Carrollton, Conyers, Lawrenceville, LaGrange and Rome completed the training. They received agent irrigation kits that include fittings and parts for drip and spray irrigation systems, primers, glues, electrical boxes and controllers. “The county agents need these items to gain a basic understanding of how an irrigation system works so that, when a client comes in, they have an understanding of how the system is laid out,” Orellana said. “We taught the UGA county agents a hands-on lesson on how an irrigation system is installed, operated and maintained.” The agents also reviewed basic watering principles for use in urban landscapes and learned about irrigation systems, including
