Dutch firm Sensoterra has developed a LoRa-based smart agriculture system for use in commercial farms to manage water usage.
Sensoterra says farmers, notably potato and almond farmers, can reduce water usage by 30 per cent.
Sensoterra provides low-cost wireless probes, solar-powered gateways and cloud-based proprietary software. Its system uses LoRa sensors and radio technology from California-based Semtech, and a LoRaWAN network from New Hampshire based Senet.
The probes come in various lengths and last up to 10 years. Users can monitor soil conditions from a smartphone, tablet or laptop, and an open application programming interface is available for data integration.; automated notifications are issued if the condition of crops is below a certain threshold.
Jurriaan Ruys, chief executive at Sensoterra, said: “As water becomes more scarce in many parts of the world, Sensoterra’s LoRa-based solutions allow farmers to manage their irrigation systems more efficiently.
“Today’s sensors must be low cost, easy to install and last for long periods of time in the field. These characteristics will allow growers to scale their deployments and benefit from true operational visibility.”
Sensoterra has focused mainly on the North American and European agriculture markets. It has deployed over 4,000 sensors to date, it claims. It is seeking to expand into Australia, South America and other parts of the world.
Sensoterra and Senet started working with Senet last year.
Senet has expanded its LoRaWAN capabilities to over 80 markets. It has also introduced a raft of server enhancements for its LoRaWAN platform, to simplify the deployment, management and monetisation of LoRaWAN-based low-power wide-area (LPWA) networks and applications.
Senet claimed it now has “connectivity readiness” in over 80 countries (see image, below), with new channel plans in the US, Latin America, Europe and Australia.
Bruce Chatterley, chief executive at Senet, said: “Sensoterra has proven the value of Semtech’s LoRa technology and low-cost, long-range LoRaWAN-based connectivity can deliver to the agriculture market.”
Alistair Fulton, vice president of product management at Semtech, said: “IoT technologies continue to transform agriculture. Farmers can readily and easily deploy IoT solutions that grow their business as well as improve their crops.”
