Affordable Solutions for Farmers

Startups develop affordable solutions for farmers

If the weatherman's forewarning about a deficient monsoon this year isn't misplaced, coconut farmer Prabhakar Devara would be in a spot. Except he doesn't seem unduly worried.

With a little help from an irrigation-technology startup, Devara has been able to reduce water usage on his 11-acre farm in Tumkuru district near Bengaluru by up to 40%. Considering that coconut plants are guzzlers, that's a potential lifesaver in the event of a drought.

An increasing number of startups are developing much-needed and affordable solutions for farmers across the agricultural cycle -- for eliminating pests, smarter irrigation, precise weather forecasting, and improving yields -- that could help three-fifths of India's 1.2 billion people who are dependent on monsoon rains.

Devara uses Bengaluru-based FlyBird Innovation's irrigation technology that senses soil temperature and moisture level and regulates water flow. Based on a specific plant's requirement and the size of the field a farmer can programme the device to let flow the exact amount of water needed for irrigation.

At a price of Rs 16,000-28,000, the firm's technology costs about one-third of similar US and Israeli variants, he said. For Devara, the savings are more fundamental. "A coconut plant requires 100 litres of water a day. With the earlier flooding system I would overuse water by as much 1,000 litres. Now this extra water can be used for other crops."

Source: The Times of India

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• Agriculture
• Irrigation
• Technology