Hughes do Brasil, a subsidiary of Hughes Network Systems, a major name in satellite and managed network services, and Soil Tecnologia, a startup in automation and monitoring solutions for central pivot systems, have announced a partnership that, the companies say, aims to bring connectivity and automation to agribusiness irrigation projects in every corner of Brazil.
Centre pivot irrigation is a method of crop irrigation in which equipment rotates around a pivot and crops are watered with sprinklers. The first step of this partnership focuses on the far west of Bahia, a state in the Northeast Region of the country which last year became the country's main irrigation hub, accounting for almost 10% of all pivots installed in Brazil.
Hughes and Soil estimate that much of the agricultural irrigation equipment operates without full connectivity in a number of Bahian municipalities, forcing landowners, for example, to travel long distances to operate irrigation systems. It also means that issues with a pivot will almost always be detected late, resulting in crop losses and wasted water and energy.
Through a combination of advanced satellite terminals, Hughes hopes to enable connectivity for these devices in the far west of Bahia and in remote regions of the country. The goal is to enable rural producers to monitor irrigation management on their smartphones using Soil apps.
Ricardo Amaral, Vice President of Enterprise Sales and Marketing at Hughes Brazil, explains: "Our satellite connectivity solution uses IoT technology to monitor equipment, sensors, and operational processes in real time, even in locations without terrestrial infrastructure,” adding: “Satellite technology transforms irrigation into a smart and sustainable process, optimising the use of water resources and reducing waste."
Combined with Hughes satellite connectivity, the Soil Tecnologia app allows owners to generate detailed reports on each pivot's performance, including data on water consumption, energy consumption, and irrigated area. It's also possible to define and monitor, in real time, details about the irrigation depth—that is, the amount of water to be irrigated to meet each crop's needs.
If any equipment shuts down for an unexpected reason, a notification appears immediately on the phone's screen.
