Ericsson demonstrates Connected Aquaponics, smart water grid management IoT solutions in Andhra Pradesh

NEW DELHI: Ericsson has demonstrated its Connected Aquaponics and Smart Water Grid Management IoT solutions on site in Mori village as part of a pilot being run by the Andhra Pradesh government towards creating smart and sustainable villages in the state .

Both the projects were demonstrated on site in the presence of N. Chandra Babu Naidu, Chief Minister, Govt of Andhra Pradesh , following a three month pilot. Ericsson had earlier in the year signed an MoU with the Govt of Andhra Pradesh and UC Berkley to help improve lives of farmers in and around Mori.

Anand Varadarajan, Head of Ericsson Research, Chennai at Ericsson India said, ”Ericsson is deploying Smart City solutions in different parts of the world . We have used our Global know how and technological expertise to develop sustainable solutions for rural areas , like the ones being demonstrated at Mori. The Connected Aquaponics and Water Grid Management IoT solutions being demonstrated here will help improve harvest, optimise water distribution and has the potential to provide an improved life for millions of farmers in the country .”

Professor Solomon Darwin, Executive Director of Garwood Center for Corporate Innovation at UC Berkeley-Haas School of Business said, ”This project has been conceptualised in order to develop a smart village by leveraging digital technology and open innovation. Ericsson’s ’Connected Aquaponics’ and ’Smart Water Grid’ solutions integrate sustainable agriculture and aquaculture which help optimize water distribution and reduce adverse effects on ground water. Prototypes like these are scalable and can benefit thousands of villages throughout India.”

More About Connected Aquaponics

Connected Aquaponics integrates aquaculture and hydroponics for reuse of the ammonia rich waste water from aquaculture for organic farming and recycle the water back to the aqua farm. Using wireless sensor network and Ericsson’s AppIOT platform; we enable the monitoring of the aqua farm 24x7 thereby enabling the farmers with real-time information. This enables them to increase the yield as well as bring down the production cost with optimum use of the raw materials and repeated use of water. This in turn has a positive impact on the water table. For farmers, all this is enabled via an App on their mobile phones thereby enabling them to monitor and control their farms remotely.

More About Smart Water Grid Management System

Ericsson’s Smart Water Grid Management solution has been designed to enable efficient use of natural water resources in the Godavari basin through use of sensors and actuators. The sensors measure the quality of water, flow of water and levels in the water storage tanks across the villages. Using LoRa and LPWAN connectivity, the actuators are used to automatically open and close the gates of the river flow system to distribute the water as per needs of the farmers. Such a system helps in better management in Flood like situations.

This also helps in regulating the flow of sea water and prevents it from entering the fresh water system. Thus, water is used efficiently and the wastage is minimised. The entire operation is integrated into a centralised command and control system for efficient management at different levels - Panchayat, Taluk, District and State.