The shape of water: How agtech is making irrigation more efficient

Get the Full StoryNew technologies are revolutionary but leave some small farmers hamstrung by the mismatch between the problems they face and the solutions being provided by the startup world.

Field D-17 on the Bowles Farming Company s ranch in California s Central Valley is dry and unplanted when I visit it with Emery Silberman in the spring. Last year s watermelon crop was harvested the previous July, and this year s tomatoes won t go in the ground for several more months. We check out the array of globular red sand filters that will treat the water for this field, and Silberman shows me the drip irrigation pump and valve assembly nearby that will control that flow. Mounted there, he shows me, is a small piece of equipment from a company called WaterBit that s designed to provide more granular control of conditions in the field thus allowing farmers like Cannon Michael, Silberman s boss, to save on valuable resources like water and fertilizer.Read Full Story

Share: