Deploying tech to conserve water

Internet of Things-enabled devices are proving handy in cutting water wastage on farms

For most urban households, the need to conserve water when supply is scanty is a no-brainer. However, overwatering of fields is common in the agriculture sector, because Indian farmers often do not know the exact water requirement of their crops at different stages. Enter Internet of Things (Iot)-enabled, sensor-based technologies, which are proving handy in cutting such water wastage.

Fasal, an agritech start-up, captures real-time data on conditions in farms through IOT devices that deliver farm-specific, crop-specific and crop-stage-specific actionable recommendations to farmers through an app. Each such device is equipped with over 12 sensors that monitor rainfall, wind speed and direction, solar intensity, and micro-climatic factors such as temperature, humidity, leaf wetness and sub-soil parameters. The system helps in managing irrigation based on specific crops at specific stages, protecting the roots and improving yields.

The device keeps an hourly track of the water tension at the primary root zone, and if the water level exceeds a certain level, the system triggers an action alert through the Fasal app.

Every farmer who maintains water below this level for a maximum number of hours in a month, is refunded the entire monthly subscription that is charged for the advisory. Currently, irrigation inputs depend on farmers’ guesswork; Fasal’s data-driven approach leads to better quality and an increase in crop yields by up to 40 per cent, the firm claims.

Horticulturists can also avail themselves of the benefits of disease and pest management advice to protect their crops and reduce harmful chemical usage. Cutting chemical residue brings better value, acceptance for their farm produce worldwide and savings of up to 50 per cent on spray costs.

“For every crop, across soil textures there is a certain level of water at the root zone of the crop that is excessive, and farmers must avoid this level. With the help of irrigation actionable alerts from the Fasal system, I am able to maintain the right water level at the root zone,” explains Manoj Dashrath Jadhav, a grape grower in Maharashtra’s Nashik district. The right amount of irrigation is a grape grower’s highest priority, since overirrigation hurts grape quality.

Jadhav had installed the Fasal device on his farms in September, which helped him irrigate the vineyard at the right time, using data provided in the app. This, he claims, has helped him grow larger grapes this year.

Iot-based technology is also coming handy in making farm management easier, especially for urban farmers who, unable to maintain their farmland on their own, leave it to farmers in rural areas. Hosachiguru, an agricultural asset management firm, helps urbanites buy and manage farmland for longterm wealth benefits, while empowering farmers in rural areas with technology-led solutions.

“Our farms remain climatere silient, as forecasting micro and macro conditions allows us to increase the preparedness of our technical and on-ground teams in taking informed decisions on irrigation, soil and crop management,” says Srinath Setty, cofounder, Hosachiguru. “For this, we have installed real-time sensors on the fields, which monitor weather, soil moisture, soil temperature, rainfall and humidity.”

The company has also rolled out the My Farm app, which allows its clientele to connect virtually with their farms through real-time activity updates and alerts. Using real-time sensors, customers can keep track of the activities on their farms, such as weeding, mulching, fertigation (injection of fertilisers into the soil), sprays and irrigation.

Strengthening supply chains

Finding the right buyers at the right price and time for farm produce is one of the biggest challenges the agriculture sector faces. Some $130 billion worth of food grain is lost every year in India owing to lack of storage, forcing farmers to sell for lower returns. Several agri-tech companies have come up in the recent past to resolve this challenge.

This gap which exists in the primary and secondary markets came to the notice of Prasanna Rao and Anand Chandra, who were working for a leading private bank a few years ago. They quit their jobs and roped in a third co-founder Chattanathan Devarajan to build Arya, an integrated agri-tech platform. The company offers storage, warehouse management, embedded finance, and market linkages to agricultural producers and buyers across India through its digital collaboration platform.

Arya, which recently raised $21 million in venture funding, pairs warehousing with financing and critical market linkage services digitally to help small farmers thrive. It has also developed and deployed flexible hermetic storage bags which do away the need for higher capex in warehousing. These flexible storage structures can be set up anywhere with negligible investment.

The company has launched a2zgodaam.com, a collaboration platform, which brings together value chain players from both the supply and demand sides.