Irrigation as a Service (IaaS) using Hosereel technology
IaaS
Stage of adaption :
Cultivation Stage
TECHNOLOGY BRIEF
AgriRain came out with a novel and innovative “Irrigation as a Service (IaaS)” model using Hosereel irrigation technology that provides hassle free, pay per use and cost effective on demand irrigation to small and marginal farmers.
Hosereel in an automated micro-irrigation system which provides irrigation in the form of rain. It can be moved between farms, has a self-propelled raingun that is fitted on a cart and is integrated with a diesel pump and HDPE pipe. The inlet hosepipe can pump water from the existing water bodies like farm ponds, canals, lakes or can be fitted directly to gravity fed pipeline. Water is split into atomized droplets and is sprinkled as rain with 75%-85% water use efficiency.
Irrigation as a Service is delivered using a trained operator from the village. Critical irrigation plan is scheduled for each farmer based on weather, crop, and soil. Irrigation is booked based on real-time available moisture on ground (Measured using low cost soil moisture sensors). Digital platform includes APP, that can calculate irrigation requirement per farm, sync moisture information and predict yield based on available moisture (still under development). The technology will enable to irrigate 4-6 acres per day per machine.
BENEFITS
• Affordable: Pay per irrigation, No capital expenditure. Crop specific, geographic specific pricing. Average price of 2 paise/litre
• Convenience: Timely, hassle free irrigation
• Versatile: All crops, terrains, and field sizes
• Rural Employment: Operators from village level
• Yield: Increase in yield and water savings using uniform application
• Climate resilient: Drought mitigation using critical irrigation. Increased acreage that can be irrigated with limited amount of water
TECHNOLOGY READINESS
Acquired more than 100 customers
AgriRain had a steady growth through selling machines and delivering Irrigation as a Service to farmers, irrigating 28 crops in India, Rwanda, and Myanmar. In India, AgriRain is present in Telangana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh. AgriRain has successfully delivered over 10,000 irrigations (7000 farmers) and sold 60 machines. AgriRain has marquee partners like Syngenta, Welspun, IFC, NSC, IFAD, EUCORD etc. to name a few. AgriRain has been awarded a grant by Start-up Agri-Business Incubation Program (SAIP) under RKVY-RAFTAAR, Govt. of India. AgriRain in partnership with Syngenta Foundation India is currently performing a joint study with Wageningen Environmental Research, Netherlands to develop adaptive Irrigation Model for Small Farmers in India. AgriRain in partnership with PSO-Welspun JV has a grant from DEG, Germany to develop IaaS models for organic cotton farmers in Myanmar. AgriRain’s Irrigation as a Service model is deployed at National Seed corporation farms and several other seed grower programs. To provide Irrigation as a Service, AgriRain has signed MOUs with 28 FPOs in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Technology Not Protected
CERTIFICATION
International Congress on Irrigation Drainage; Water Technology Center, New Delhi; ICAR, New Delhi; University of Florence; Wageningen University, Netherlands; Pending: Farm Machinery Training & Testing Institute Hisar (Haryana).
TARGET CUSTOMERS
• Small and Marginal Farmers: < 8 Ha (Irrigation as Service)
• FPOs
• Government: Canal Irrigation Projects
• Large Farmers: >8 Ha (Machine sale model)
• Large Customers (Contract farming): Irrigation as Service
SCALABILITY
AgriRain has signed MOUs with 28 FPOs in India and 2 cooperatives in Rwanda. In India and Ivory Coast, AgriRain has signed an MOU with OLAM to deliver IaaS under closed loop structure. In Myanmar, AgriRain has a contract with PSO-Welspun JV and DEG to irrigate cotton farmers till the end of December 2021. In Rwanda, AgriRain is in the process of signing an agreement with Rwanda Agriculture Board, IFC, and IFAD to pilot Market led adaptive irrigation models to small farmers. AgriRain is also installing and maintaining 42 Hosereel machines for 3 years under the Rwanda-India LOC projects.
Project 2022: Increasing farmer’s income by 20% and saving 2 Million m3 of water
AgriRain intends to deploy resources in the dry (Rabi, Yasangi) season of 2020. Based on the last few years ground level experience, AgriRain is confident of strengthening, replicating, and acquiring total of 15,000 farmers in next 6 months. There will be extensive demonstrations and farmers meetings conducted during the 6-month period to develop clusters for the machines. Water entrepreneurs, Operations and sales team will be expanded and strengthened to achieve the scale. By the end of the dry season (Rabi, Yasangi) in March 2021, AgriRain sets a goal to perform 100,000 irrigations, improve the farmers income by minimum of 20% and save water by 25%.
LIMITATIONS
1. Finance for operator run irrigation models: Financial Institutions are not able to provide financing to deploy machines on ground. Asset financing for hosereels should be like tractor financing. Credit guarantee schemes should be enabled to deploy machines using operators. FPO financing for irrigation machines to be available for Hosereel product and Irrigation as a Service model.
2. Product not considered under government programs: Hosereel as a product and Irrigation as a Service business model is not considered for any integrated irrigation projects, food security mission projects, Drought relief programs etc. Government relationships should be established to help AgriRain deploy at scale.
3. Water Source integration: Tank and river link projects should be connected with irrigation as service model.
TECHNOLOGY COST
Hosereel Product: Rs. 5,25,000 + GST. Covers a minimum of 2 Ha without movement.
Irrigation as a Service Model: Average Rs 1,000 @ 10mm per acre (Depends on crop, geography and water source distance)
SOCIAL IMPACT
• Farmers Income
• Water use efficiency
• Local employment
• Food security
• Climate resilience
CONTACT
kisanmitr@indiancst.in
TOLL FREE
1800 258 2010
ONLINE HELP DESK
+91 97 429 79 111