Manage Water Pumps on Phone

By a simple phone call or an SMS, farmers can now turn the water pump on or off.

Agriculture and allied activities contribute about 30 percent to the gross domestic product of India. However, the agricultural industry completely depends on the availability of water. India is facing water scarcity because of drought, unseasonal rainfalls and mainly due to wastage of water.

Micro Technologies (India), an IT-based security solutions developer based in Navi Mumbai, has come up with a solution that will help farmers reduce water wastage to a significant extent. The company has launched Micro Jai-Kisan, an innovative device which will help farmers remotely manage the motor pumps by using a phone. Developed on the basis of GSM technology, the farmer can turn the pump on or off and also know the status of the pump by a simple phone call from a GSM, STD phone, or even by sending SMS, informs P. Sekhar, chairman and managing director of Micro Technologies.

Today, farmers have to make multiple trips to their farms to check if there is adequate electricity to turn on the pump to water their crops. It is estimated that about 87 percent of utilizable water is used for agriculture in India compared to 69 percent world average. The flood or flow irrigation method in the country results in more than 50 percent of water wastage. Moreover, an estimated 213 billion cubic meter out of 690 billion cubic meter of surface water is wasted each month in India. Water leakage, pilferage and wastage amounts to 50 percent of the total flow. Industry estimates value of water and wastewater market in India at €700 million. Nearly 20 percent of the farmers are dependent on eclectic water pumps for irrigation which demand electricity. Around 25 percent of total Gram Panchayats (GPs) of any state of India have pump-based drinking or irrigation water supply facilities. This device will help them in reducing water leakage, pilferage and wastage, Sekhar explains.

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The manufacturers have used a very simple technology to develop the system. “When we started developing the solution, we kept in mind that the end user is a farmer who might be illiterate. So if we are developing a solution for him, it would be very simple and easy to use by everyone,” says CIO of the company, Nisha Menon.

The company has developed two models – one functions on the basis of SMS and the other on the basis of both SMS and phone call. The products are undergoing pilot tests in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar.