In the Central Serrana region, Espírito Santo state, Brazil, there is a predominance of small farms and the technological level used is still low, especially in terms of water use. Irrigation management can provide greater water use efficiency and promote optimization of crop productivity and conservation of water resources. Thus, this study aimed to implement an irrigation management program, using simplified electronic spreadsheets, for drip irrigation, based on the climatological water balance, for family-based farmers. We selected four spots located in the towns of Barra de Bom Destino; Barra de Jatibocas; Baixo Sossego and headquarters of the Itarana County, state of Espírito Santo, Brazil, with drip irrigation systems, irrigating banana, arabica coffee, guava and conilon coffee crops. Irrigation management was carried out for seven months, using daily temperature and precipitation data, obtained from maximum and minimum thermometers and rain gauges, respectively. The values were collected by farmers, noted in tables and registered in electronic spreadsheets, which provided recommendations for irrigation times. In adjacent areas, irrigation was carried out according to its local traditional rule, in the way that farmers did before the implementation of management, with the purpose of comparing the volume of water used in the two forms of irrigation. The banana irrigator followed the irrigation management guidelines using the spreadsheet and, comparing the two areas, achieved a 7.5% increase in productivity and a 9.34% increase in water use efficiency. Farmers in areas with arabica coffee and guava managed irrigation, but were not organized to collect crop productivity data. For guava cultivation, an increase in fruit load was visible in the area with irrigation management. The Conilon coffee farmer did not follow the irrigation management recommendations, considering the task laborious and complicated. Irrigation management continues to be carried out on farms with banana, guava and arabica coffee. New neighboring producers expressed interest in using electronic spreadsheets. Work has been done on the development of new tools for irrigation management, using smartphones, to facilitate the task of calculating irrigation management. Therefore, it is expected that with the continuity of the work, the practice of irrigation management will be more widespread among farmers and they will decide to use it.
