Problem / Objective:

Due to erratic power supply and wastage of scarce resources such as water and electricity resulting from the adoption of auto switches, it was becoming difficult to provide irrigation to crops. Farmers faced high maintenance and overhead costs of around INR 30,000 per pump for pump damage due to erratic voltage fluctuations, motor burn, wire cut, and dry run. As a result, they started adopting auto-switch, which turns motors on as and when the power is available. 

Solution / Approach:

KisanRaja is an agriculture-based start-up with the vision of building innovative and cost-effective technology products and IoT solutions for emerging economies. The company delivers cloud-based IoT solutions integrated with wireless sensors, mobile pump controllers and wireless valve controllers for smart autonomous irrigation through its flagship brand, KisanRaja. 

Through the adoption of the mobile motor controller, KisanRaja’s solution will offer huge water savings. Here, the pumps are connected to a cloud server for monitoring the discharge of borewell to help control its operation. Pump sets can be operated remotely and can be turned off. This is known as ‘Internet of Pumps’, which helps farmers run them only when required and measures the amount of water that is being saved. The technology can be used with micro-irrigation systems as well. 

Impact / Implementation:

KisanRaja’s solution contributes towards reducing the government’s power subsidy bill, increasing the longevity of groundwater resources, and per capita income of farmers resulting from improved margins with a reduction in labour, fuel, equipment maintenance, and fertiliser costs. Constant water monitoring leads to around 12-15% increase in farm productivity, which helps in saving up to 25% of power, and reduces pump maintenance costs by 30%. 

Source: NASSCOM COE-DSAI AI for Good report