ABSTRACT Global water scarcity severely restricts the sustainability of agricultural production, as conventional flood irrigation technologies exhibit low water use efficiency and insufficient flow regulation precision. Smart agriculture systems, which rely on Internet of Things (IoT) and control algorithms to establish closed‐loop irrigation frameworks, critically require intelligent fluidic actuators with rapid response, precise positioning, and broad‐range flow modulation capabilities. Here, we introduce a low‐power and high‐efficiency flexible electromagnetic actuator developed through a multi‐scale collaborative design of “magnetic materials‐flexible structures‐environmental interaction” based on an electromagnetically driven mechanism. The actuator employs low drive current and frequency modulation technology to achieve low‐power precision regulation of magnetic field strength, thereby enabling wide‐range and high‐precision flow control (0.05–5.8 mL/min). When applied to drip irrigation systems, it enables a refined, demand‐based water supply according to plants’ real‐time water requirements, with water consumption lower than that of traditional flood irrigation. This not only enhances water resource utilization efficiency but also creates an optimal moisture environment for crop growth, thereby promoting their development. It provides a viable technical pathway with economic and environmental benefits for alleviating global agricultural water scarcity pressures and advancing smart agriculture.
Chen et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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