THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The lockdown has spiked the interest in gardening among people. Urban farming is on the rise and families can spend time tending their plants. However, who will take care of the plants post-lockdown? Providing a solution to that is an IoT product, SmartGro, a smart irrigation system developed by Troncart Solutions Pvt Ltd, ensures your plants are never left unattended.
“SmartGro helps in both small-scale farming such as terrace farming and kitchen gardens to large farms by ensuring that the plants get an adequate amount of water without any manual assistance,” said Sumesh R Nair, one of the directors of Troncart. SmartGro is an automated, well-maintained irrigation system that monitors real-time soil conditions, evaporation and water use to adjust the watering schedule to the actual conditions of the site and minimising water wastage with the help of smart sensors.
“Traditional methods that are used for irrigation such as overhead sprinklers are not that efficient. The result is wastage of water and fungus formation due to excess moisture in the soil,” said Sumesh. Using smart farming techniques, farmers can monitor the needs of individual plants and adjust their nutrition correspondingly, thereby preventing disease and enhancing yield health.
Different technologies are used for different product variants such as Bluetooth, WiFi, LORA and Internet-based (4G) solutions. This smart irrigation system schedules requirements based on the timer, conducts intelligent watering through sensors and feedback events and manually controls through the mobile app and real-time monitoring.
With this system, users can create zones of irrigation area based on needs and monitor watering with the help of the data gathered through sensors and the valves installed in the area. Users can create and maintain the irrigation of their produce through different timer conditions. They can also track the condition of the soil and thus alter the schedules to facilitate the maximum yield of his produce.
Currently, SmartGro is being efficiently used in rooftop farming by a few residents. Using this technology, about 200 plants grown on the rooftop of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation are being monitored. The startup has also associated with Krishi Bhavan to make this technology available to the large-scale farmers.