Fully Automatic Intelligent Remote Controlled Water and Fertilizer Integration for Drip Irrigation Systems in Agricultural Greenhouses Main Buyer Country

When you hear about 'fully automatic intelligent remote controlled water and fertilizer integration', the first thing that comes to mind is just another marketing ploy. But in practice, this is a complex symbiosis of precision mechanics, agronomy and telemetry, where every design error comes out after six months of operation.

Myths and reality of irrigation automation

I still meet customers who are confident that automation means simply installing a controller on a ready-made system. In reality, the entire greenhouse hydraulics have to be redesigned - from pipe diameters to the location of drip lines. This is especially critical for crops with different growing seasons in the same greenhouse.

I remember a case in the Krasnodar region, where a customer saved money on soil moisture sensors by relying only on a timer. The result is waterlogging in areas with compacted soil and underwatering in sandy layers. We had to urgently install tensiometers and rewrite the irrigation program.

Now in basic configurations we always include redundancy of control channels. Experience has shown thatremote controlled integrationmust have at least two independent communication methods - usually GSM and Ethernet, in case of communication line breaks.

Technological nuances of integrating water and fertilizers

The weakest point in fertigation systems is the accuracy of dosing of microcomponents. Even expensive European pumps sometimes give an error of up to 8%, which is critical for some crops. It is necessary to supplement the system with weighing dispensers.

In projectsShandong Linyao Intelligent Agriculture Technology Co.,LtdWe use a cascade filtration system - first coarse mesh filters, then disk filters, and before the drip lines, it is necessary to install sand and gravel filters. This increases the cost by 12-15%, but extends the life of the system by years.

An interesting point with pH stabilization. Automatic pH correction systems often over-adjust due to the inertia of the electrodes. We had to develop an algorithm with predictive correction - now we consistently maintain ±0.2 pH even with fluctuations in water quality.

Problems of adaptation to Russian conditions

Imported equipment often does not take into account the peculiarities of our water - high hardness and seasonal changes in mineralization. In the spring, when the snow melts, mineralization can drop by half, which breaks all nutrient solution calculators.

For greenhouses in Siberia, the approach to pipeline insulation had to be completely reconsidered. Standard heating cables could not cope at -45°C, so we had to combine them with foam rubber insulation and make double boxes.

By the way, aboutintegration of water and fertilizers- many people underestimate the importance of preliminary water analysis. Once in the Tver region they encountered a high content of manganese, which clogged the IVs in two weeks. We had to install an additional aeration system and iron removal filters.

Features of remote control

Communication is a sore point in remote farms. Satellite modems are expensive, GSM is not stable everywhere. Most often we use hybrid solutions - the local controller collects data, and synchronization with the server occurs according to a schedule if there is a connection.

Control interfaces are a different story. I noticed that greenhouse operators over 45 years of age do not perceive complex graphical interfaces well. We had to develop a simplified version of the software with large buttons and a minimum number of settings.

Fordrip irrigation systemsIn large greenhouses, zoning control is critical. As a standard, we divide it into sectors of 500-1000 m2, but there are exceptions - for example, for tomatoes and cucumbers in the same greenhouse we make independent circuits with different watering programs.

Practical aspects of operation

Maintenance is something that is often forgotten when designing. Filters need to be washed every 2-7 days depending on the water quality. If automatic flushing is not provided, labor costs eat up all the savings from automation.

Sensor calibration is another pitfall. pH and EC electrodes need to be calibrated every 4-6 weeks, and sometimes more often in Russian water conditions. We train staff to do this on their own, otherwise service costs become prohibitive.

In projectsShandong Lingyao Co.,LtdWe always reserve 25-30% for pump performance. Practice has shown that over a year of operation, the productivity of drip lines drops by 8-12% due to inevitable clogging, and this reserve allows maintaining uniformity of watering.

Economic aspects of implementation

The payback period for systems is usually 2-3 years, but highly depends on the culture. For greens and salads - up to 1.5 years, for fruit crops - longer. The fastest results are obtained when switching from manual irrigation to drip irrigation with simultaneous automation.

A common mistake is skimping on monitoring. Without a data collection and analytics system, it is impossible to optimize irrigation and nutrition regimes. At a minimum, you need a basic set - soil moisture, EC and pH sensors, plus a weather station to account for evaporation.

Foragricultural greenhousesWith seasonal operation, it is important to consider preserving the system for the winter. A standard mistake is incomplete drainage of water, which leads to pipe ruptures and equipment damage. We have developed step-by-step conservation instructions that reduce risks by 90%.

Prospects for technology development

Now we are experimenting with predictive algorithms - we are trying to predict the need for watering based on data on the phenophases of plants and the weather forecast. The first results are encouraging - water savings of up to 15% without loss of yield.

An interesting direction is integration with artificial lighting systems. It turned out that when there is additional light, plants consume water differently; watering schedules have to be adjusted. This once again confirms thatfully automatic intelligentmanagement must take into account all microclimate factors.

On the website https://www.lyzhihuinongye.ru you can find examples of our completed projects - from small greenhouse complexes to industrial facilities. Each case is unique, and there can be no ready-made solutions - only an individual approach with a deep analysis of the conditions of a particular farm.