About 2,400-5,000 liters of water input is required in the rice field to produce 1 kg of rice depending on different rice cultivation methods. About 79% of the total cultivated area in Bangladesh is irrigated by groundwater costing USD 4.0 billion. An alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) system was proposed by the International Rice Research Institute that can save up to 30%-40% of water, but farmers’ adoption of the process remains limited due to an insufficient number of extension workers assisting farmers in applying the AWD technology.
Nodes Digital Limited integrated the traditional AWD pipes with software, IoT sensors, and mobile applications with the goal of automating the process and testing the efficacy of the AWD system. This will help reduce the amount of water used for irrigation as well as the overall cost of production.