While the case studies are actual, the names and locations have been changed to protect the identity of the clients.
Background
Vaadi farms is a 3-acre polyhouse project for growing cucumbers. They have divided the farm into three sub-sections of 1 acre each for irrigation. A single irrigation pump is connected to the three irrigation sub-sections through manual control valves.
Two labours managed the task of irrigation. One will go to one end of the farm and signal the other (who operated the pump) to turn irrigation on and off, who will act on these signals. They would do that individually for the three sub-sections twice every day.
With the manual process, Vaadi farms could only obtain 30% of the yield that they were expecting.
Problem Statement
How to remove manual dependence (and minimise errors) from the irrigation process?
1. Other than doing a physical visit and being present during the irrigation process, there was no way to know if the cycles ran as planned.
2. Plants near the pump were getting more nutrients than the plants far off, leading to uneven growth and sub-optimal yields.
Solution Approach
We implemented an IoT-enabled irrigation automation module (along with a nutrient dosing system for optimal nutrition) with remote management capabilities.
The following were the key features:
- Creation of 9 irrigation zones.
- Automation of irrigation in 9 zones using the one existing pump.
- Integration of moisture sensors to control the extent of irrigation.
- Linking of irrigation schedule to environmental VPD data.
- Remote management capability through a WebApp with historical records.
- Integration with nutrient dosing system to provide precise nutrition.