Smart Irrigation Technology
The key-feature of this system is a siphon, which delivers intermittent doses of water to pressurize the drip system, resulting in excellent irrigation uniformity and the possibility of unattended operation of the irrigation system. This is the first time such siphon has been combined with small so-called family drip systems. It also allows upgrading existing systems with the siphon at a very low cost. The siphon makes it possible to cut operation time from hours to minutes on a daily basis. Often small-scale farmers in the SSA are offered low-technological solutions, to keep costs down or because few companies see a market that can justify substantial R&D activities. Nevertheless, it will to a large extent be small-scale farmers in SSA, who have to solve the UN Sustainable Development Goal No. 2: Zero Hunger, as most people going hungry are located in the SSA with a fast growing population. The rapid spread of mobile phone services in the same area shows that individualised smart technologies are readily adopted despite low economic resources.