{"id":992,"date":"2025-06-08T18:20:33","date_gmt":"2025-06-08T18:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/?p=992"},"modified":"2025-07-09T17:07:38","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T17:07:38","slug":"iot-enabled-smart-irrigation-weather-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/concluded-projects\/iot-enabled-smart-irrigation-weather-network\/","title":{"rendered":"IoT-Enabled Smart Irrigation & Weather Network – 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Date:<\/strong> March 2025
Location:<\/strong> Anuradhapura District, Sri Lanka<\/p>\n

Overview<\/strong>
Addressing acute water stress, MPF has launched a pilot network of soil-moisture sensors and mini weather stations across six smallholder farms. Real-time data flows into a cloud dashboard that triggers SMS alerts, so farmers irrigate only when crops need water.<\/p>\n

The Challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n

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    Inefficient irrigation:<\/strong> Flood irrigation wastes 40–60% of available water.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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    Lack of data:<\/strong> Farmers make scheduling decisions by calendar dates and guesswork.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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    Rising temperatures:<\/strong> Climate variability increases evapotranspiration rates.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Our Approach<\/strong><\/p>\n

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      Sensor Deployment<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t

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        Installed 50 LoRaWAN soil-moisture probes and 6 solar-powered weather stations.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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        Data Integration & Alerts<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t

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          Built a dashboard with customizable thresholds and automated SMS\/WhatsApp notifications.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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          Farmer Training & Feedback<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t

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            Conducted three field workshops to teach data interpretation and refine alert settings.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Implementation Highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n

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              Network coverage:<\/strong> Achieved 10 km of LoRaWAN connectivity via two gateway nodes.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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              Open-source dashboard:<\/strong> Running on a low-cost Raspberry Pi server at the MPF field office.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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              Partnerships:<\/strong> Collaborating with the Department of Agrarian Services for extension support.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

              Progress to Date<\/strong><\/p>\n

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                20% reduction<\/strong> in cumulative water usage over three cropping cycles.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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                4.8\/5<\/strong> satisfaction rating from participating farmers.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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                Farmers report 15% yield increase<\/strong> in their groundnut and chili plots.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                Expected Outcomes<\/strong><\/p>\n

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                  Scale to 100 farms<\/strong> by Q3 2025.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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                  Achieve 30% water-use savings<\/strong> across the pilot zone.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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                  Publish an open-access manual for replication across Sri Lanka’s dry zone.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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                  “Now I know exactly when my chilli plants need water—I save time, money, and the plants are healthier.”
                  — Mr. Perera, Pilot Farmer, Horowpathana<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  Date: March 2025Location: Anuradhapura District, Sri Lanka Overview Addressing acute water stress, MPF has launched a pilot network of soil-moisture sensors and mini weather stations across six smallholder farms. Real-time data flows into a cloud dashboard that triggers SMS alerts, so farmers irrigate only when crops need water. The Challenge Inefficient irrigation: Flood irrigation wastes 40–60% of available water. Lack of data: Farmers make scheduling decisions by calendar dates and guesswork. Rising temperatures: Climate variability increases evapotranspiration rates. Our Approach Sensor Deployment Installed 50 LoRaWAN soil-moisture probes and 6 solar-powered weather stations. Data Integration & Alerts Built a dashboard with customizable thresholds and automated SMS\/WhatsApp notifications. Farmer Training & Feedback Conducted three field workshops to teach data interpretation and refine alert settings. Implementation Highlights Network coverage: Achieved 10 km of LoRaWAN connectivity via two gateway nodes. Open-source dashboard: Running on a low-cost Raspberry Pi server at the MPF field office. Partnerships: Collaborating with the Department of Agrarian Services for extension support. Progress to Date 20% reduction in cumulative water usage over three cropping cycles. 4.8\/5 satisfaction rating from participating farmers. Farmers report 15% yield increase in their groundnut and chili plots. Expected Outcomes Scale to 100 farms by Q3 2025. Achieve 30% water-use savings across the pilot zone. Publish an open-access manual for replication across Sri Lanka’s dry zone. “Now I know exactly when my chilli plants need water—I save time, money, and the plants are healthier.” — Mr. Perera, Pilot Farmer, Horowpathana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-concluded-projects","tag-24"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=992"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1448,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/992\/revisions\/1448"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}