THE CHALLENGE OF AGRICULTURE

SUCCESS STORIES

Saving water from mobile phones

Project: PROGAR: SMS controlled irrigation technology

Location: Spain

Problem: Traditional irrigation systems are inefficient and waste too much water.

Objective: Develop an integrated irrigation management technology platform.

Solution: PROGAR – Advanced Irrigation Management Programme: irrigation terminals are fitted with a control unit connected to the system by GSM/GPRS, SMS or remote connection technology. Farmers can activate or programme irrigation from a mobile phone. The system provides information on evaporation, the amount of useful water in the soil, statistics and irrigation history and automatically connects to the bank to invoice the amount of water used.

Achievements: Provide an efficient irrigation control system that can be applied to irrigated land anywhere in the world.

Success stories:

• Treated water reuse models
• “Cross compliance” in agriculture
• Healthy lands – Creation of marshlands
• The European Maritime Safety Agency - EMSA
• Ground water protection in sensitive areas