This solution allows farmers to automate the full irrigation cycle from defining irrigation plans to making sure each plot gets the right amount of water. Farmers are now able to define and implement an irrigation protocol that delivers their production goal. Viridix’s sensors constantly monitor soil moisture at varying ground depths. The system analyses this data to calculate required irrigation volume and timing, and automatically adjusts the irrigation plan. The Talgil irrigation control system then executes the plan to provide plants with just the right amount of water.
The Talgil irrigation controllers ensure that no matter how many plots a grower cultivates, each one receives the exact amount of water it needs. Tal Maor, Viridix CEO, said, “Through this collaboration, we can close the precision irrigation loop and offer growers the advanced level of automation they need to meet their production goals efficiently and sustainably.” This solution will potentially provide farmers around the world with an advanced solution to monitor and calculate every drop of water. This will further enable farmers, especially in arid areas, to carefully plan irrigation using a databacked approach, which hopefully will ensure a more efficient crop growing process, while saving both costs and water.
Yosee Ochman, deputy general manager at Talgil, stated, “The collaboration with Viridix adds another important dimension to the value we deliver to our customers: data. Now our customers no longer have to manually calculate irrigation plans for different plots, or manually adjust them for changing weather conditions.”
Irrigation farmers warn of devastation as blackouts intensify
LINDSAY CORPORATION, A manufacturer and distributor of irrigation and infrastructure equipment and technology, has launched FieldNET with WaterTrend. This feature gives growers critical crop water usage insights to aid in effective and efficient irrigation decisionmaking. FieldNET, Lindsay’s irrigation management platform, provides growers with the ability to remotely monitor and control all aspects of their existing pivot and lateral irrigation systems, regardless of the equipment’s age or brand. The platform delivers information so growers can monitor the operational status of their irrigation systems and control them quickly and easily from a smartphone, tablet or computer 24-hours a day from anywhere.
Using advanced data, science and modelling technology, the WaterTrend feature provides a seven-day water outlook on forecasted crop water usage and precipitation amounts.
This is based on field-specific forecasted rainfall amounts, crop growth models and crop water usage information. Growers can see trends in how their crops will use water over the coming week, enabling them to make better, data-driven decisions on when and how much to irrigate. Another added benefit of the feature is the ability for growers to view field-specific weather data, including the current field conditions plus hourly and daily forecasts. “FieldNET with WaterTrend uses the same science and data that goes into FieldNET Advisor to provide a seven-day water trend,” said Albert Maurin, product manager at Lindsay.
Maurin added that, at any time, growers can take their irrigation management to the next level and upgrade to FieldNET Advisor to receive daily, automated irrigation recommendations – including the ability to account for multiple crop types and planting dates, incorporate satellite imagery, further customise the irrigation parameters, and receive continuously updated variable-rate irrigation (VRI) prescriptions. The global release of FieldNET with WaterTrend furthers Lindsay's commitment to creating a more sustainable future by equipping growers with data and insights to run their irrigation system with precision to conserve resources. The company has a goal to help growers save more than 700bn gallons of water and more than one billion kilowatt hours of energy by the year 2022.
