Smart Farming: Optimising Production and Cost Savings through the Smart Fertigation and Smart Monitoring System

Location

Selangor

Type

Open Farm 

Crop

Rock Melons using Smart Fertigation System

Background

The farm owner relied heavily on workers to operate and maintain his rock melon farm, from ploughing and seeding to watering and fertilizing of the crops. Thus, human errors are inevitable. He had to deal with inconsistency in irrigation and fertigation process. Issues were more apparent during days when he was away from the farm. As a result, his material cost was always high, crop’s health badly affected, and he was not able to predict his crops yield almost in every season. He knew the only way for him to mitigate all these issues is to replace part of the manual works with technology.

The Solutions

Data driven decision making and automated farming process, leads to better crop yields, better resource management, lower costs, and improved environmental conditions.

REDtone Smart Fertigation System was installed in April 2019. It allows the farm owner to supply correct, uniform, and adequate amount of water and nutrients directly to the roots of each plant, according to the crop cycle development cycle needs.

Farm owner can pre-schedule daily watering and fertilizing times for his rock melons. The amount of water and fertilizers used are regulated precisely by REDtone Smart Fertigation system. This has not only lowered the cost of fertilizer used per plant but also avoiding human errors. With all the data collected, farm owner understands his farm condition better, able to pay attention to particular pain point and requirements timely. As a result, increase farm productivity, better yield quality, lower material cost and less labor intensive.

“With REDtone Smart Farming, I can control and monitor my farm via my handphone, even though I was in overseas – thousand miles away. The IoT solution has made farming easier and more productive for me. I’ve learned so much new knowledge about farming. With all the data collected from sensors, I know the precise amount of water and fertilizer needed for every cycle. This has resulted in less wastage in terms of water and fertilizer. And I know what the best conditions for my rock melons would be to grow”

~ Farm Owner ~

Data Collected After 3 Months

BEFORE

Manual Fertiliser Mixing Process

  • Fully dependent on workers while prone to human error and inconsistency

AFTER

Automated Mixing System Following SOPs

  • Accurate, uniform and precise in term of timing and target areas; improved uptake of plant nutrients
  • Remote access

BEFORE

No Record of Fertilizer Mixing

  • Unknown quantity of fertilizer and water used

AFTER

Fertigation Tank (EC Chart)

  • EC level is well managed according to parameters set

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