Conserving water is one of the most important things we can do to protect our environment, and nowhere is the need for this more evident than in farming where traditional farm water management processes are known to be inefficient and wasteful.
Today, the power of IoT technology is being harnessed to change these old paradigms and they are proving to be highly beneficial in improving water conservation through the intelligent monitoring of water usage in crops.
One company leading the way in modernizing farm water operations is Applied Digital, Inc., founded in 1984 to develop industrial automation control systems. Aquarius Farm Controls, a product line that Applied Digital has been developing for more than nine years, was designed to help farmers automate their water management processes to make them more efficient. Using IoT, whereby a network of sensors is deployed throughout the farm’s acres of land and connected to the internet, a farmer adopting Aquarius Farm Controls can monitor crop water usage remotely and instantly respond to information transmitted by the sensors, which are continuously monitoring soil moisture levels. When the sensors report that the soil moisture has reached a desired level, the system then instantly turns off the water supply pumps, thereby limiting water usage to just the exact amount of water that is needed.
The Era of Precision Farming
Aquarius Farm Controls gives farmers more precise control over their operations than they’ve ever had before. In addition to remotely monitoring water levels and controlling pumps and valves, farmers can initiate routines, track run time, monitor weather, including rain, wind, and temperature, detect leaks, and measure exactly how much moisture is in the soil at any given time. Imagine being able to conserve the most water possible by activating irrigation systems only when needed and only as long as needed. This also saves fuel since the pumps run only as long as necessary and then automatically turn off. Furthermore, all Aquarius Farm Control functions are remotely accessible, enabling farmers to monitor their farm operations over the internet via any internet-enabled device.
All of this is made possible by using the cellular network to interconnect the Aquarius Farm Controls sensors that are deployed over miles and miles of rural farmland. Farmland does not typically have landlines, and short-range wireless technologies, such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, cannot provide this wide area coverage. Aquarius Farm Controls opted to work with Sequans Communications and is using Sequans’ Monarch technology to connect the Aquarius Farm Controls sensor devices. Monarch is a low-power, wide-area (LPWA) technology that can operate on all LTE networks nationwide and worldwide.
Cellular is Available Everywhere and is Always On
“Cellular is always on and always available and gives us the ubiquitous coverage needed to monitor expansive farmlands,” said Monte Gilliland, president of Applied Digital. “We knew we needed cellular and so we chose Sequans, the leader in cellular IoT connectivity, to help us. Sequans Monarch technology is solidly reliable, was easy to integrate, and its advanced features, including ultra-low power consumption, fit with our mission of delivering the most efficiency with the least energy.”
Sequans Monarch technology operates on LTE-M and NB-IoT cellular networks and can dynamically switch between the two technologies on demand. LTE-M and NB-IoT were created to support LPWA use cases and agricultural IoT is proving to be one of the most valuable applications of today. Monarch delivers highly advanced features, including industry-leading low power, support for integrated eSIM, and global band support.
“It is very exciting to see how farmers are using this new technology to save water, increase yields, and reduce waste,” said Olivier Pauzet, EVP marketing and strategy, Sequans. “Applied Digital and Aquarius Farm Controls are demonstrating the value of IoT in preserving the environment and moving toward 100 percent sustainability in farm management. We are very proud to be part of it.”
Farmers adopting Aquarius Farm Controls powered by cellular IoT have a great opportunity to help the Earth by conserving water and reducing energy usage in farm operations. According to Precedence Research, the global market for agricultural IoT will grow from the present day $13.61 billion to $28.56 billion, with a CAGR of 9.62% by 2030.
