JALA RAKSHAKA: A Low-Cost Dual-Sensor Automatic Irrigation Model for Saving Water in Bagalkot District

In Bagalkot, many farmers travel one to two kilometers at night to switch on their bore well pump.Sometimes they forget to switch off the pump.Sometimes the pump keeps running even when rain starts.This wastes water and electricity.To solve this daily problem, our team made a small model called JALA RAKSHAKA.In Kannada, Jala means water and Rakshaka means protector.The model has two sensors.One sensor checks whether the soil is dry.Another sensor checks whether rain has started.An Arduino Uno board reads both sensors and decides whether the pump should run or stop.We collected black soil from a field near Bagalkot and tested the model.When the soil was dry and there was no rain, the pump started automatically.When the soil became wet or rain drops fell on the rain sensor, the pump stopped automatically.The model works without internet and without a mobile phone.The total cost was eight hundred and seventy rupees only.This model got Second Prize in Project Exhibition at our college.