Improvement in Irrigation Technology Using Smart Sprinkler Changer Bot

Agriculture is one of the most important sectors for India and Indian economy. It contributes about 17% to the total GDP of our country and provides employment to over 60% of the population as one of the primary occupations in the country. Indian agriculture has registered an impressive growth over last few decades. For a major sector in Indian agriculture, farmers depend upon artificial watering system other than rainwater and natural water sources. Irrigation has proven to be more efficient watering system for farmers over the years. Irrigation helps to increase productivity even in low rainfall. The productivity of irrigated land is higher compared to un-irrigated land. In areas that have irregular precipitation, irrigation improves crop growth and quality. But farmers face different problems while using the irrigation systems e.g., lack of mechanism. During the rabi season which is between October and February farmers face a major problem in irrigation specially at night time. In this season plants need extra water other than the rainwater or naturally provided one. Now a days farmers use latest technology for irrigating a land using sprinkler irrigations. Government also promotes the irrigation systems in farms by providing various subsidies on sprinklers sets which plays an important role in preferences by the farmers to the use of sprinkler irrigations. For the agriculture purposes, 75% of electricity supply is usually distributed during night time This supply is generally provided in shifts of about 8 hours only. In case of irrigation systems, 80% of farmer has more than two sets of sprinkler type of irrigation. One set of a sprinkler is capable of irrigating more than one acre land in a single night (one set includes 30 pipes and 8 sprinklers plus 5 as extras). So, the farmers who have two or more sets of sprinklers, they assemble a position of sprinklers in shifts during day time while the power supply is given at night time. The main issue begins after 1st shift ends and 2nd shift starts, as due to such arrangement of sprinkler, farmers have to change the valve manually in night time nearly at 3 am (due to the 8-hour shift of power supply). This is one of hardest tasks for the farmers as it is already as dangerous to enter the field at night time as it can get and the reptiles impose the living risks. Plus, during rabi season it is of no help that on an average, the temperature can drop as low as 14 degrees Celsius which is again adverse for the health of farmers. Another risky factor for farmers, who have to enter the farms at night for the irrigation purposes is attacks from wild animals. According to a report by Times of India, 7794 claims of crop damages were registered only in Maharashtra region till the last September. These attacks by wild life sometimes lead to the injuries to farmers and result in fatal situations specially if occurred at night time. Other than this, farmers are also exposed to the danger of electric shocks due to improper voltage supplied. As a solution to this issue and for the convenience of the farmers, our team has built a systembot which will automate the change in the shifts of sprinklers using valves[1]. The Bot helps the farmer to access the sprinklers and monitor the water flow through these pipes remotely. Our aim is to provide a system which will change the shifts of sprinklers automatically according to the time period of the shifts required and power supply at a low budget.