Engineering and design of measurement-backed irrigation automation for a multi-block orchard: programmed and remote valve control, water tracking through flow measurement and a water meter, soil moisture monitoring in reference blocks and fertigation control were set up as one system.
Design completed
AGIMEX role: Engineering and design of the irrigation automation completed and delivered.
In a large orchard, the value of irrigation automation is not limited to opening and closing valves remotely. The real question is whether the water applied reaches the right place in the right amount. On this project AGIMEX designed irrigation control together with two measurement layers: flow measurement and a water meter set up to show how much water each irrigation actually applied, and soil moisture probes in reference blocks set up to show what that water does in the root zone. Field control units, output extensions, control cable routes, links to the water and fertigation centres and alert scenarios were brought together in one automation design.
Automation without measurement only knows time: it says how long a valve stays open, but not whether water actually flowed, how much of it reached the block or what happened in the root zone. A burst pipe, a broken line, a valve that fails to open or leaks, or a pump that delivers no water is only discovered once someone notices it in the field; until then the blocks are irrigated blind. In a large orchard that delay costs both water and crop. The design therefore treated control together with flow and soil moisture measurement: the system was set up not only to start irrigation but also to verify that it happened as intended.
The design was developed in five layers, from valve control to decision support:
Control and programming: block-level valve programming, sequence management, grouping of simultaneously open valves within pump capacity, and remote control.
Water measurement: instantaneous flow and total consumption, with expected and actual flow compared for each irrigation.
Soil moisture: root-zone moisture profile monitoring in reference blocks.
Fertigation: automatic control of the fertigation unit from within the irrigation programme.
Alerts and reporting: flow deviation alerts, irrigation records, and water reports by block and by season.
The whole orchard was set up to be managed centrally, by a single operator where needed. Irrigation is planned around the crop's needs rather than the field crew's schedule.
Capabilities
The water applied is measured instead of inferred from run time. How much water each irrigation actually used, and how much each block consumed, is recorded.
Capabilities
Probes in reference blocks show what the water does in the root zone. Run times rest on measurement rather than estimates.
Capabilities
Fertilising stops being a separate task and becomes a phase of the irrigation programme, read together with flow and soil moisture data.
Capabilities
A deviation from expected flow becomes an alert without waiting for the problem to be noticed in the field.
Capabilities
Irrigation records and measurements become the basis for the next irrigation decision.
Capabilities
The irrigation blocks were designed to be controlled by field control units distributed across the blocks. Control cable routes link these units to the water and fertigation centres, each with pumping, filtration, fertigation and a control unit. Flow measurement and the water meter connect to the control unit at the centres, and soil moisture probes to monitoring points in the reference blocks. Each valve command can therefore be read against the flow measured at that moment, and each irrigation against the moisture change in the root zone.
Irrigation blocks are served by distributed field control units. Control cable routes connect the units to two water and fertigation centres, each combining pumping, filtration, fertigation and the central controller. A mounting detail shows the field unit on a post with its cable entry and valve connection.
Field control unit — mounting detail
Schematic; not to scale and not a site layout.
The benefit of measurement-backed automation shows less in individual features than in how irrigation is managed:
Automation reduces labour; flow and soil moisture measurement show where the water and fertiliser actually go. Together they turn automatic irrigation into data-based irrigation management.
The valve command is compared with measured flow. If no flow develops, the event is flagged as an alert.
The water meter records the actual volume for each irrigation and each block, so nothing has to be inferred from run time.
Flow above the expected value becomes an alert for a suspected burst pipe or broken line.
Flow measured while no valve is open points to a leaking valve.
No flow with the pump switched on was defined as a separate alarm condition.
Probes in the reference blocks show whether moisture stays in the root zone or moves into deeper layers.
Over- or under-irrigation shows in the moisture data, and run times are adjusted from it.
The fertiliser phase is linked to flow, and the root-zone effect of fertigated irrigation is read together with moisture data.
Irrigation automation design documentation covering the control architecture, measurement points, fertigation control set-up, irrigation programme and alert scenarios, the automation equipment schedule and the technical and commercial scope.
Client identity, site location, land area, equipment quantities and commercial information are withheld for confidentiality.
In a large orchard, the automation decision does not start with choosing a controller. These questions come first:
Share your orchard's block layout, your water source and your existing irrigation and fertigation equipment. AGIMEX will review the automation architecture and the measurement scope it needs with you.
Let’s review your project togetherIrrigation design and engineering for commercial farms, orchards and greenhouses, and turnkey irrigation and field irrigation projects: AGIMEX carries crop-led hydraulic design and system specification and, within the agreed scope, procurement and supply, fertigation, automation, installation, testing and commissioning. AGIMEX does not manufacture irrigation equipment.
For farms, greenhouses and agricultural investments with installed or planned infrastructure: AGIMEX defines the measurement architecture and monitoring requirements, reads operating data against the engineering design, and sets up decision support and performance evaluation. This is engineering and agronomic decision support, not a software product.
A sound irrigation project depends on separating what has been measured from what has been assumed, from the very first conversation.
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In subsurface drip, depth, spacing and dripper flow are solved in one calculation, and the acceptance criteria are written before the line is buried.
A pump is not a product but an operating point formed with the system; selection follows the system curve, zone sequencing and suction conditions.
Filtration is decided by the clogging risk factors in the water, not by a general assessment; backflush and headworks layout belong to the same calculation.
Implemented and commissioned
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