What is irrigation?
Irrigation refers to the artificial induction of water in to land or soil generally practiced for agriculture. It is often practiced with the help of tubes, pipes and sprays that help in growing of agricultural produce, maintaining landscapes, watering for livestocks and regeneration of dry soil to make it suitable for cultivation in case of inadequate natural rainfall. This system also helps in protecting the crops from frost and other natural factors that can negatively impact their growth.
What is irrigation automation?
An automated irrigation system refers to the operation of an irrigation system with little to no manual labor excluding the surveillance during the irrigation process. Irrigation systems can be automated with the assistance of sensors, timers and specially developed software’s that can connect mechanical appliances to remote monitoring.
Why should irrigation be automated?
Using traditional methods of irrigation is becoming impossible as larger the field of cultivation, larger will be the manpower requirement. This will drastically increase labor costs and can also lead to other problems such as over irrigation or under irrigation. In rural areas, farmers that follow the traditional modes of irrigation often have to travel large distances to start and stop the irrigation several times a day. This not only elongates the irrigation process, but also calls for an extensive need in labor and unwanted travel expenses, if any.
An automated irrigation system refers to the operation of an irrigation system with little to no manual labor excluding the surveillance during the irrigation process. Irrigation systems can be automated with the assistance of sensors, timers and specially developed software’s that can connect mechanical appliances to remote monitoring.
Automating irrigation systems have various benefits. It helps in the even distribution of water across the entire field regardless of the scale of operations. There are different types of irrigation systems such as sprinkler irrigation system, drip irrigation system and surface/ subsurface irrigation systems. All these systems can be automated to a certain extent providing creative solutions to various irrigation problems.
While the instillation of these systems can be little expensive to inexperienced farmers, they can prove to be cost effective in the long run generate high returns on the investments. Extreme automated systems include exits using GIS and satellite tracking to measure the water needs of the crops and optimize irrigation options automatically.
Time based irrigation systems:
This refers to an automated set of timers and sensors that are integrated along with the irrigation system. A timer is a basic tool needed for automation of irrigation as it provides the right quantity of water at the right time. These timers can also help in avoiding the situations of over irrigation or under irrigation as faced by traditional modes of irrigation.
Volume based irrigation systems:
This refers to an already decided amount of water that will be released in the fields using automatic volume control valves. This helps in ensuring that the crops are not flooded with water or face any problems due to dryness and excess heat.