Is it possible to find an intelligent irrigation system which automatically recalculates irrigation needs for the next day?
Is it possible to find an irrigation controller capable of reconfiguring irrigation and fertigation only by receiving mm/Ha/day and Units of Fertilizer/Ha/day?
This is what we have achieved in the IoE-Crops project. Every day the system checks the weather forecast, soil moisture measurements, cross the current data of the crop with those of the previous years, and with this the smart system calculates the needs of water and fertilizer for the following day.
The WC3000 irrigation controller, through its API, receives the new prescription and reconfigures daily irrigation. With this system we have managed to increase crop production by decreasing water consumption very considerably. All of this has been possible thanks to the team formed by Eurecat, Irta, Modpow and ITC Dosing Pumps.
It has been a great experience for all the ITC team. The farmer feedback has been absolutely positive, the system worked better than anybody could expect, recalculating new water and fertilizer daily and facing all the unexpected events: rain, water supply breakage, watering interruptions for treatments or work at the field.