Technology

Varsity students create mobile system that cuts irrigation costs

uni

Meru University of Science and Technology Physics lecturer Daniel Maitethia (left), lab technologist Samuel Lalai and Computer Science fourth year student James Karuri operate the power unit and the control unit of the sensor- based automatic irrigation system. PHOTO | PHOEBE OKALL

Kenya’s population is on the rise and this calls for increase in food production and the best option to achieve this is to scale up the acreage under irrigation.

However, climate change has made water, necessary for agricultural production, insufficient.

The country is classified as a water scarce nation with a large area categorised under arid and semi-arid region.

The little water available for irrigation is massively wasted through different irrigation methods such as overhead and furrow irrigation.

This was the reason two Computer Science students from Meru University of Science and Technology (MUST) and Kenya Methodist University (KeMU), designed a phone application that uses sensors to detect soil moisture levels.

Twenty two-year-old Eric Mutembei, a third year student at the KeMU and 24-year-old James Karuri, a fourth year student in MUST came up with a Sensor based Automatic Irrigation System.

With the assistance of a Physics Lecturer Daniel Maitethia, who is the lead innovator of the system, and Samuel Lalai, a Physics lab technician, both from MUST, the students managed to design the system to help reduce cost and save time.

The system detects when the soil is dry, channels water to crops and when enough of it has been delivered, shuts down the supply automatically.

“The system can be used by a farmer who has office work because he will only be required to send text messages and control his farm produces,” said Mr Mutembei.

The lecturer says a farmer can also operate the system remotely by sending text messages that would initiate desired responses such as turn on water pump or open a specified water valve.

Manning the process

“The preferred mode of irrigation is by drip lines where land is subdivided into different portions and water is channelled to each portion through an automated valve which feeds the laid down drip lines,” he said.

The system, besides reducing water wastage can also save on labour cost as there would be no need to engage a farm attendant in manning the process.

Mr Mutembei says in case something goes wrong, for example water cannot be delivered to the crops yet the soil is dry, the farmer receives an alert from the system notifying him of the problem so that he can attend to it.

“If we can adopt better irrigation techniques, we can increase the acreage under irrigation by a large factor, produce more food, reduce the cost of food and greatly boost the economy,” he notes.

Mr Maitethia says the system has been tested in the university farm and exhibited in a number of forums such as Commission of University Education (CUE) annual exhibitions, the National Council of Science, Technology and Innovations (NACOSTI) annual science week, Meru annual ASK shows and USAID feed the future innovation engine challenge (2014).

The innovators say that the lack of a financial partner has prevented them from mass producing the sensor systems and reaching out to many farmers. “We are interested in getting a financial partner to help us raise funds for mass production of the system and make it affordable to small holder farmers,” Mr Maitethia says.

He adds they are planning to produce custom made kits that meet specific customer needs pointing out that they are also looking for clients of the products.

“The next phase of the system upgrade will feature sensors for real time soil nutrient evaluation and monitoring of crop stress such as diseases, pests and drought,” says the lecturer.

Giant technology firms led by IBM have also been using technology to help farmers practising irrigation.

Big data

In Kenya for example, IBM is using big data analytics to create a better understanding of water within networks, such as aquifers, that are largely unseen.

IBM is leveraging big data and analytics to help companies stay one step ahead in managing water-related risks.

Agribusinesses need timely and flexible approaches to handle scarcity and rapid change – in either the environment or political and regulatory landscape.

For example, IBM helps farmers anticipate and respond to drought as well as evaluate and manage watershed vulnerability by informing them about the changes that are occurring in the water table, as adjustments occur due to a multitude of inflows and outflows.

This approach relies heavily on being able to access and analyse accurate data from disbursed areas of land.

[email protected]