Smart Farming: Egyptian farmers can irrigate fields while they at home

CAIRO – 4 December 2020: In a bid of adopting the new technology in the agriculture field in Egypt, the government started applying system of moisture sensors to regulates the irrigation and improve the crop productivity.

 

“Within six months, the Egyptian farmer can irrigate his land while he is staying at home via using his mobile phone,” said Egyptian Minister of Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Atti during his inspection tour of the city of Al-Fayyoum on Thursday.

 

The new digitized system includes using moisture sensors that would be planted in the soil to measure the percentage of moisture of the soil, then the data would be transmitted to the farmer’s mobile application via satellite signals, head of Planning Sector at Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation Eman Sayed told Youm7 on Thursday.

 

She added that this experiment is being applied right now in Sharqia governorate, where sensors were planted and connected to the ministry, saying “we can know the degree of humidity and if the land need irrigation or not.” So, the farmer can know when he is home if his land need irrigation or not.

 

The new trend of smart farming aims at creating a digital database and services that collect accurate data about the soil and the crops to ensure high productivity and good quality.

 

In September 2020, the Ministers of Agriculture and Communication agreed on accelerating the digitization of agricultural services such as using mobile phone applications to help farmers in agricultural transactions, pest and insect control, as well as planting, irrigation and harvesting dates.

 

The ministries are working on a new digital system through using what is called the Farmer’s Smart Card for be a payment card instead of paper-based documents.