Korean start-up brings smart irrigation to India

The company recently unveiled its product at the 2019 MWC Barcelona congress, showcasing how the new product will save water for farmers. It targets grape farms based in Maharashtra, Karnataka states which are well organised and run professionally.

IoT solutions for vineyards

Speaking on this at the congress, Eric Seo, Overseas Manager for SMARF said “the company currently provides IoT solutions to vineyards, for which we are keen to expand our operations to other countries.” Seo also said that looking at the development happening in the India, “we might be keen to work in this market.”

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The SMARF valve is a smart irrigation valve which applies LPWAN communication technology to agricultural irrigation valves. – Photos: SMARF

Smart irrigation valve

SMARF valve, which is one of the main products of the company, is a smart irrigation valve which applies LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) communication technology to agricultural irrigation valve, enabling remote control of irrigation with no external power. SMARF pursues gradual automation of irrigation through its IoT platform, FAROTA, the company adds. It has products that work for grapes, potatoes and other vegetables which increase yield between 30% to 50%.

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The SMARF system installed on a potato farm in Korea.

SMARF success stories in Korea & China

Commenting on whether the company has tied up any companies before entering the Indian market, Seo said to have tied up with Orion Confectionery, the largest potato chip manufacturer in Korea. Apart from this, the company installed SMARF irrigation solutions to some Orion-contracted potato farms in Korea which resulted in 30% increase in yields. More than 400 potato farms in Korea supply produce to Orion as raw material for potato chips, all of which are potential targets for SMARF solutions.

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The SMARF team at the MWC Barcelona congress earlier this year.

Optimal potato irrigation scenario

In 2019, the Korean company has also started working with some potato farms in China, which will be the first overseas business venture. “The venture in China will help us study data from both Korean and Chinese farms, so that we can enhance the optimal potato irrigation scenario for best yield and marketability if required and enter the Indian market too by this year end.” Seo stressed that next targets for this potato-specific IoT-based irrigation solution can be PepsiCo/Frito-Lay and other global potato chip giants.

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Daejeon, Republic of Korea, Bluepoint Partners and Mirae Holdings are its initial investors.

Also read: Profiting from precision irrigation