The „Digital Field“ project, developed by the „Mihajlo Pupin“ Institute from Belgrade, is an autonomous system for remote management of natural resources, water, land and energy in agriculture. With the help of this tool, farmers can use mobile phones to control the watering of their fields, but also to monitor the weather conditions in their crops.
This innovation makes it easier for farmers to fight against drought and climate change, Ilija Stevanović, a graduate mechanical engineer who works at the “Mihajlo Pupin” Institute, tells Nova Ekonomija.
“We have completed the system of renewable energy sources here, it is powered by solar energy so that the entire production, irrigation and monitoring of irrigation parameters is done remotely, i.e. digitally,” says Stevanović.
At the beginning of June, the Institute was an exhibitor at the Fair of Green Ideas, Projects and Innovations in the Cvijeta Zuzurić Pavilion in Kalemegdan, where, among other things, the “Smart Agriculture” project was presented.
“We have developed a device that produces electricity from the sun, that electricity is stored in a battery and then, if necessary, that energy is sent from the inverter to the pumps and then irrigation is done,” explains Stevanović.
As he adds, irrigation is done by programming a computer that monitors the parameters and turns it on and off as needed.
“The user, that is, the farmer (where the system is installed), controls everything using a mobile phone. He told us that after 10, 20 years of farming, he could go to the sea in Greece and control the system from the beach after we installed it,” adds Stevanović.
Stevanović explains that during irrigation, there is no fuel consumption, and when the world crisis started and when oil prices started to rise, the farmer who owns such a system is not interested.
“It does not use oil at all, that is, fuel for production. He also has a backup system generator, in case this system of ours fails, but he has not turned it on until now. The production is contemporary and does not depend on the current events in the world in terms of energy,” adds Stevanović.
As stated, in technological terms, the digital field represents a distributed sensor-computer network that uses wireless communications to collect information from the environment and land.
Among other things, the sensors measure the temperature on the surface and in the depth of the soil, as well as the pH value of the soil, that is, they monitor the acidity of the soil.
In addition to the sensors, a meteorological station is also installed on the farm, which monitors the micro-climate parameters of the environment.
Sign up for business updates & specials.
