Question

How can automatic plant watering system be used for paddy fields?

Answer 1

System of Rice Intensification (SRI) has received a wide attention as a technology package to improve land and water productivities of paddy fields. Unlike conventional paddy field where its soil surface mostly flooded with water, SRI paddy field is irrigated intermittently to condition the soil surface close to, or saturated with water. In SRI Paddy Field, younger seeds (8-12 days) are planted in a wider interval (25 cm x 25 cm, or more) which gives more spaces for tillers and roots to develop more. As it has been proven elsewhere, SRI practice could produce more rice per hectare, or increases land as well as water productivities. With organic applications, SRI practice could improve soil conditions, and helps farmers to reduce the utilization of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. SRI paddy becomes healthier with deeper rooting and in some instances makes it tougher to bad weather like storm and pest outbreaks. However, there are still remaining problems. SRI practice needs more labors especially during planting and weeding, and tedious jobs to manage water levels by means of intermittent irrigation and/or drainage. Some appropriate technologies are needed to handle these problems. On water management aspect, an effort has been initiated by means of application of automatic irrigation supported by a Wireless Station Network (WSN). In this technique, a water level sensor is placed in the middle of SRI Paddy Field. Its output is transmitted to a remote control room by means of radio wave, and then analyzed to get an output as a command to regulate water valve back in the field. The technology being described further in this paper is a promising one. However, it requires some adjustments on the existing irrigation network if it is applied to the conventional paddy field.