Crop Irrigation Management
Crop irrigation management is a smart farming application that automates and optimizes the irrigation process in large-scale agriculture.
What is IoT-Enabled Crop Irrigation Management?
Crop irrigation management uses IoT-enabled sensors to monitor precipitation and humidity levels and automatically adjusts irrigation schedules to create the optimal conditions for crop yield and quality while reducing waste.
Value Proposition
Current methods for irrigation are already highly automated – usually involving waterings at specific, scheduled times. While these methods don’t require a lot of human intervention, they involve a high degree of guesswork and can be extremely wasteful.
Even with the use of modern irrigation systems, some parts of fields may end up oversaturated and others underwatered and though farmers may turn off irrigation systems during a rainshower, they may not always check the weather and adjust their schedules accordingly.
All of that wasted water can be costly – it takes 27, 154 gallons of water to ensure that a one-acre field has taken on one inch of water. That’s a lot of water – and you may not even need it all. Terrain, existing moisture levels, shade, precipitation and different kinds of plants may all dictate a different amount of water necessary.
Crop irrigation management systems can take all of that into account. By utilizing precision farming methodologies, these solutions deliver exactly the amount of water needed to minimize waste and optimize growing conditions.
In a European study, smart crop irrigation management systems were able to reduce water consumption by 25 percent.
How it Works
Smart crop irrigation management systems can measure the amount of moisture in water, check the weather forecast, and deliver the precise amount of water needed per plant or row to eliminate waste and to ensure the best possible growing conditions.
Key Benefits of IoT-Enabled Crop Irrigation Management
- Reduce the cost of water consumption by eliminating unnecessary watering.
- Prevent over- or under-watering to increase crop yield and quality.
- Lower long-term costs of human labor to monitor and adjust manual irrigation systems.
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