WaterBit introduces closed-loop automated irrigation

WaterBit, an agricultural technology company specialising in automated precision irrigation, offers a solution that allows growers to irrigate remotely. Through its latest software release the company has has added closed-loop automation, multi-user support, an improved user interface and an API.

‘Autonomous, but grower-guided, irrigation’

“This release, and automated irrigation specifically, are major steps forward on our journey to enable growers with precise autonomous, but grower-guided, irrigation,” says Andrew Wright, WaterBit’s CEO. “With input from growers, our solution can tell where and when a crop needs water and apply that water automatically.”

Soil moisture thresholds

Growers of specialty crops like wine grapes and almonds use the WaterBit precision irrigation solution to remotely monitor soil moisture in their fields and to control the flow of irrigation. Now, WaterBit users can set soil moisture thresholds that automatically trigger the application of irrigation.

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Growers of specialty crops like wine grapes and almonds use the WaterBit precision irrigation solution to remotely monitor soil moisture in their fields and to control the flow of irrigation. – Photo: AFP

“Historically, growers had to visit each field to evaluate soil moisture and manually open and close valves to start and stop irrigation. Now using WaterBit, they can achieve consistent soil moisture levels automatically and remotely – improving crop quality and yield, while saving water and optimizing labor,” says WaterBit.

Multiple users on one account

The latest version of the WaterBit solution allows a single account to have multiple users, all with specific permissions – from executive management, to farm managers, to irrigators. This allows each user to have the appropriate level of access and control.

Users now also have the ability to add annotations to charts within the WaterBit Dashboard. This allows growers to note insights or concerns directly within a soil moisture or irrigation application chart, making it a single source of information. Notes can be used to identify patterns or interesting events and communicate those observations to other users of the WaterBit Dashboard.

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Users now also have the ability to add annotations to charts within the WaterBit Dashboard. – Photo: WaterBit

Application Programming Interface (API)

The WaterBit API allows customers to download their data from the WaterBit Dashboard for reporting and analysis, or so that they can use that information within another system. “With the number of agtech solutions currently being deployed across most farms, it’s important that information does not have to stay siloed within each system,” says WaterBit.