A smart auto-irrigation and app-based soil monitoring system primarily focused on motivating and engaging underprivileged families of migrants who own fields but lack resources for agriculture and are forced to move out for livelihood has not only earned funding from the US-based Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers but also started helping such people at four sites in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand.
A faculty of IIT-Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, along with a group of students and a horticulture officer have developed the project.
The project was set up and devices were installed in the fields at four places in Dhanbad — Baliapur Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sardar Patel Nagar, Koylanagar and Rajendra Sarobar near the Dhanbad Municipal Corporation.
“The project is part of the US-based Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Humanitarian Activities Committee (IEEE-HAC) and SIGHT’s (special interest group on humanitarian technology) response to the current Covid-19 situation. Under the project, one institute from selected developing countries was chosen to improve the pandemic situation in their society by means of technology,” said Rajeev Kumar Ranjan, a faculty in the electronics engineering department of IIT-ISM, who is leading the project.
The project was the only one selected from India by IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organisation dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. A grant of $3,700 was provided to start the project.
“We received the grant in June last year. Earlier this month, we completed installation in four sites and developed the AgroPro app. The new system comes with automatic irrigation, control through multi-language app, farmer-less irrigation support, 24x7 monitoring, smart adjustment according to environmental conditions powered by artificial intelligence and modular design with support for multiple sprinklers/pumps. We also aspire to further develop the project into an effective food security system that can predict various crop failure scenarios beforehand and become sustainable with the adding of solar panels for supplying electricity,” added Ranjan.
The older irrigation technology led to a lot of water wastage and it discourages people to take up farming, particularly in a parched area like Dhanbad, despite owning lands and forces them to migrate to other cities for employment. The project will help those with less farming skill in coming out with a more proficient way of irrigation with the sprinkler system. Temperature, moisture and humidity readings are continuously monitored using sensors and is managed by the AgroPro app, which is available for download on Google Play Store.
“The automatic soil monitoring and irrigation system will help farmers tackle water management issues and enhance the crop yield thereby generating means for their livelihood. We had conducted a survey last September and got to know about the problems faced by farmers. This helped us in developing the project to address their issues,” said Ranjan.
The basic setup costs around Rs 10,000 for 21,000sqfeet of land.
