Over 43% of the United States is experiencing droughts. That’s what the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) reported. The result can be crop damage and corresponding food shortages.
Of course, traditional irrigation methods aren’t sustainable during continued global water shortages. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that 325,851 gallons of water are required to water one acre of land to a depth of one foot.
Software providers can capitalize on the increased demand for alternative irrigation management systems by creating software that efficiently deploys water resources. Effective software solutions can be used to create a new revenue stream for software providers.
According to Prescient & Strategic Intelligence, global smart irrigation market revenue was $1,404.4 million in 2021 and is forecasted to reach $4,495.0 million by 2030. Software proprietors can tap into that revenue stream by adding five key features to irrigation management software:
- Cross-functional apps and smart irrigation systems
- Voice activation in smart irrigation systems
Variable water delivery and rain sensors
- Artificial intelligence for smart irrigation
Cross-Functional Apps and Smart Irrigation Systems
When creating these apps, it’s best to use a flexible development platform like Xamarin. This open-source platform has cross-functionality, which means that it can run on different operating systems, including Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android system.
Xamarin also provides access to APIs (application programming interfaces) for camera and geolocation functions. By giving a mobile app access to a IoT (Internet of Things) sensors positioned near crops, software providers can help farmers remotely monitor crop health and performance in real time via devices.
In the study, IOT Based Smart Irrigation System using Sensors and Image Processing, researchers proposed the idea of using an agricultural sensor system equipped with an image processing unit, a soil moisture sensor, and a temperature and humidity sensor. They wrote that all three sensors could be used to transmit data about crop health to a computer that would activate an irrigation system.
The smart irrigation system proposed by the researchers isn’t just theoretical. The technology already exists. The true value lay in building a cross-platform mobile app that can be used to control the system. And, of course, Xamarin is the most useful platform for developing the app.
Voice Activation in Smart Irrigation Systems
Software providers can integrate voice assistant technology with smart irrigation management systems to create a convenient option for irrigation.
Voice assistant software uses automatic speech recognition (ASR) to convert mp3 to text, transforming spoken words into written format. The text is then analyzed with natural language processing (NL) to translate and identify the intent of what was said.
Finally, voice assistant technology is used to conduct a search for a valid answer and response. The response is converted via text-to-speech (TTS) technology, and the voice assistant responds to the person’s commands.
Software providers can pair this innovative feature with smart irrigation systems and can further grow revenue by offering this efficient option. Voice assistant technology is indeed popular. Statista.com estimated that the use of voice assistants would grow from 120.4 million users in 2021 to 130.1 million users in 2025.
Variable Water Delivery and Rain Sensors
Agricultural rain detection sensors can be used to transmit real-time alerts that can be accessed on a smartphone app. And, software providers can create and configure the app, ensuring that the mobile software helps farmers keep track of rainfall.
There are several types of rain sensors that can be used as part of a rain-shut off device: sensors triggered by water weight, electrode-based sensors that measure the electrical conductivity of water, and expansion disks. That’s what University of Florida professors describe in their research paper, Residential Irrigation System Rainfall Shutoff Devices.
Expansion disk systems contain cork disks that expand from rain, triggering a pressure switch that shuts off the irrigation system. This type of sensor can be used for variable water delivery because the expansion disk ensures that no additional water is being used during rainfall. But, that type of low-tech system lacks the functionality for off-site monitoring and control.
According to researchers, synthetic expansion disks can be used as part of wireless rain sensors. These sensors are often part of irrigation systems where the sensor data is transmitted wirelessly to an irrigation controller that can connect to an Internet-based cloud system. More importantly, a mobile app can link up with the cloud system, enabling end users to schedule the irrigation of agricultural crops,
Artificial Intelligence for Smart Irrigation
Artificial intelligence (AI) software technology can be used to maintain optimal soil conditions and provide insight into plant health, offering the information needed to predict and increase crop yields. That’s what researchers concluded in their study, AI-Based Yield Prediction and Smart Irrigation.
If AI is used in conjunction with drones equipped with cameras, farmers have effective visual and analytical tools to study plant health, pest control, and crop growth rate, according to researchers. And, mobile apps can also be used to remotely fly the drones.
Software companies can add drone control features and AI features to irrigation management software to help farmers reduce water consumption while creating more attractive and versatile options.
Keys to Successful Irrigation Management Software
Developing apps for irrigation management systems offers the convenience of remote access to deploy smart irrigation systems with variable water delivery, giving farmers precise control of resources to run entire farming systems at optimal capacity.
Software providers can pair voice activation with smart irrigation systems and tap into a global market. MarketsandMarkets estimates that the smart irrigation market will reach $2.3 billion by 2026. This offers software providers multiple ways to maximize profits.
The utilization of AI and drones provides versatile options for farmers seeking to better address potential crop yield issues by generating real-time data reports and aerial imagery for precise overviews of crops. This can give tangible results to farmers and reinforces the value of the software provider.
With the smart irrigation market forecasted to have a high growth rate, software providers have different ways to profit and to mitigate global water shortages.
Author Bio:
Tyler Boykin
Vice President of Sales
Tyler Boykin The Vice President of Sales at Chetu, Inc., a global, custom software development company, where he oversees the Hospitality & Travel, Transportation, Events & Meetings, and IT Service Management accounts, as well as a myriad of partner tools. A graduate of the University of West Georgia, Tyler joined Chetu in 2013 where has risen through the ranks of the sales department and helped the company grow into an award-winning organization.
