Irrigation is a man-made process of providing crops and land with a controlled amount of water and is essential in the agriculture sector. In South Africa where rainwater can be scarce, irrigation is said to support as much as 30% of all agriculture. Thus, it’s crucial to find smarter ways of enacting and improving irrigation processes for farmers and the environment.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is already giving a solution: it is a process where devices and technologies share information. The IoT is proving beneficial to achieving a more sustainable and affordable method of irrigation, now known as smart irrigation technology.

You’ll even be able to connect conventional irrigation equipment sold by renowned retailers like Game stores  or Builders Warehouse with other devices to convert it into smart irrigation. Read on to find out more!

The problem with conventional irrigation techniques

Conventional irrigation is a success in providing timely water to land and crops, making it easy for farmers to apply water over large stretches of land with minimal fuss.

However, orthodox irrigation systems are not tailor-made for real-time events, such as changes in weather and soil conditions. The best example of this is that most irrigation equipment will not automatically switch itself off while it is raining, causing the land to receive more than double the water needed in some cases. On the other hand, non-IoT irrigation may not provide enough water when required due to unexpected weather pattern changes.

Not only are these limitations detrimental to the condition of the land and crops, but overwatering can also waste water in areas that receive less rainfall than desired. This is especially bad in areas where rainwater is scarce, such as South Africa, other African countries and parts of Australia.

How the IoT can solve these problems

The IoT can solve these issues by connecting irrigation equipment with other devices that can “talk” to each other and share data. For starters, the irrigation equipment may be paired with seasonal data from another device to create irrigation schedules based on previous weather patterns – or even weather forecasts from external sources that are constantly updating.

But connected smart devices can go even further. There’s already a device available that can be lowered to a required depth in the surrounding soil and alert the irrigation equipment or an app on the farmer’s smartphone when the soil is too dry and needs water.

This will overcome a typical lack in evapotranspiration (ET) data, which is how much water is removed from the soil through evaporation. When this data is not present, the soil can be much drier than believed and without immediate watering crops can be damaged.

Alternatively, a smart controller can detect when the soil is moister than expected and instruct that watering is not needed.

The benefits of IoT Smart Irrigation

There is an array of benefits from modernising irrigation equipment with IoT smart irrigation controllers, such as:

1. Irrigation is tailored to the surrounding environment based on accurate updated forecasts and real-time events.
2. Land and crops are healthier, which increases the production of the farm or agriculture business.
3. The process is environmental and can save agriculture businesses from unnecessary and damaging overwatering.
4. Thus, the business may also save on irrigation costs.
5. The cost of acquiring and installing a smart irrigation controller is not substantial as it can be paired with existing irrigation equipment – or to another device that alerts the farmer.
6. Once set up, the process is predominantly automated without much input from farmers
7. It’s easy for farmers to monitor the performance of smart irrigation.