Remote control of water pumps with mobile phones in India

This is the recording of an e-Agriculture webinar organized on the 30th of June 2017, on the topic of remote control of water pumps using mobile phones - the case of Nano Ganesh.

Nano Ganesh is a mobile-based remote controller for water pumps. This innovation features an electronic hardware based remote control system, operated by a mobile phone with mobile​signal connectivity at both ends. It serves as an interface between the high voltage starters of the waterpumps and the low voltage GSM modules, enabling farmers to switch the water pump on and off and to check the availability of power. It also enables farmers to check the water levels in the storage tank or well. It is a simple and low-cost solution that helps farmers avoid long distance travels to the hazardous distant pump sites and allows him to be at home during odd hours. It also avoids the farmers need to remain on site for hours to be able to switch it off again when irrigation is completed.

Remote control for irrigation is a game changer for smallholder farmers to help them overcome challenges like erratic power, irregular water supply, dangerous travel as well as waste of energy resources, water and time. Introduced in 2003-4, Nano Ganesh now has over 60 000 installations in India impacting 480K rural population, and the number is still growing.

Santosh Ostwal, who is an electrical engineer, innovator and entrepreneur at the origin of the development of Nano Ganesh shared his 25 years journey of rural ICT experience during the webinar looking at the challenges he faced in the development of the solution and its implementation and how to overcome them.