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A man working on the crop.
Young innovators at the Mafikeng Digital Innovation Hub are offering the agricultural sector some intelligent water management solutions. They’ve developed a smart irrigation system for local small-scale farms.
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The innovation guarantees that crops receive the correct amount of hydration.
There innovators say farmers will be able to prevent over or under-watering their crops.
“Smart irrigation system is a system that helps farmers with irrigating their crops based on what they have planted. Our smart irrigation system consists of a relay, a soil moisture sensor, esp32, and batteries. You can use batteries or you can use electricity; it depends on how you want it,” says a participant.
Thato Semenya who is from the hub says they have also taken into account the prevalence of theft on farms.
“This smart drip irrigation system, the version that we have installed here, is a portable one where you can switch off the system, unplug the system, put it in your house, and then the following day, plug it back on. We did that because most of the farmers that we provide this solution, have expressed that in their areas there’s a lot of theft, not only to their stock, but the equipment they use as well. Most of them would like to take the technology they have, put it safe at night, and then the following day, they are now able to just come and plug it back on and the system works again,” says Semenya.
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