Solar-powered drip irrigation enhances food security in the Sudano–Sahel documents a field research project which found that:
"solar-powered drip irrigation significantly augments both household income and nutritional intake, particularly during the dry season, and is cost effective compared to alternative technologies"
Over the decades, irrigation has been shown to greatly increase agricultural productivity. Drip irrigation is spreading rapidly in Africa, with significant benefits.
"Drip irrigation delivers water (and fertilizer) directly to the roots of plants, thereby improving soil moisture conditions; in some studies, this has resulted in yield gains of up to 100%, water savings of up to 40–80%, and associated fertilizer, pesticide, and labor savings over conventional irrigation systems"
The solar-powered systems, however, look to offer the potential for even better results. From the study on impacts of PVDI systems it was reported:
"The women’s agricultural group members utilizing the PVDI systems became strong net producers in vegetables with extra income earned from sales, significantly increasing their purchases of staples, pulses, and protein during the dry season, and oil during the rainy season.
Finally, survey respondents were asked how frequently they were unable to meet their household food needs. Based on the frequency and most recent incident, households were assigned a food insecurity score ranging from zero (no problems during the previous year) to one (perpetually unable to meet food needs). This score changed significantly for project beneficiaries, as they were 17% less likely to feel chronically food-insecure. In short, the PVDI systems had a remarkable effect on both year-round and seasonal food access."
kunalk9995 on 11 Nov 19With its recently published study "Global Agricultural Robots Market - Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities, Trends, and Forecast up to 2025", Infoholic Research forecasts that the global market for agricultural robots is primarily driven by the increasing demand for precision agriculture. This trend is expected to continue during the forecast period 2019-2025, fueling the market growth at a CAGR of around 22% to surpass a revenue of $20 billion by 2025. The robots used in the agriculture sector for various activities, i.e., weed control, seeding, monitoring, and harvesting, are termed as agricultural robots. They are also used for livestock applications, including milking, herding, and fish farming. Globally, there is an increase in demand for food, mainly due to the growth in population and increasing average life expectancy. Further, there is an increasing shift of workforce, especially in rural areas, from agricultural activities toward the service sector. The need for automation in agriculture is heavily driven by these two factors Read more on: https://www.infoholicresearch.com/press-release/agricultural-robots-market/?utm_source=pravinmane&utm_medium=medium&utm_campaign=lead-generation
