With the decrease in natural resources, today, modern agriculture tends to focus on new techniques such as precision agriculture which brings together techniques to optimize yield and reduce the immoderate use of natural resources and Energy.
It is in this configuration that the launch signal of the Tunisian “One Challenge” satellite was given on Tuesday, March 22, for the purposes of its use in intelligent agriculture, cereal farming, and the rationalization of the use of irrigation water.
This experiment, the first of its kind in Africa and the Arab world, was carried out in one of the agricultural estates of Boussalem, in the governorate of Jendouba in coordination with the company Telnet, which specializes in engineering and technology, and l National Institute of Major Cultures.
This pioneering experiment consists of connecting farms belonging to the National Institute of Field Crops to the intranet of objects, where data on humidity, heat, sunshine and plant diseases are detected through sensors installed on agricultural land and which will then be transmitted to the “One Challenge” satellite.
Subsequently, instructions will be issued to control agricultural equipment remotely in order to treat or irrigate the land.
Irrigation, the first beneficiary
This technological solution makes it possible to know the parts that must be irrigated in a precise way, as well as to determine the fertility rate of the soil and the necessary quantity of fertilizers.
The raw data will then be converted into technical data and transmitted via a screen to the farmer, allowing the latter to make the best decision regarding irrigation.
It should be noted that on the day of the launch, a Telnet team provided remote monitoring from Lake Tunis.
It is a pilot project in agriculture that shows the importance of technology in the development of this field.
It should be noted that this experience is part of the activation of new satellite communication technologies and the enhancement of their role in the development of various strategic sectors in Tunisia, in particular the field of agriculture, and this by linking inaccessible agricultural plots with the Internet of Things using different parameters in the plot.
To implement this project, Telnet engineers developed software for agricultural activities and sent it remotely to the “One Challenge” satellite, then activated it.
A technical design was also developed and equipment needed to connect the satellite to agricultural lands was developed.
Propelled to pioneer status
The company’s engineers have also developed a smart farming application to enhance the use of the satellite allowing farmers to obtain all the data related to their crops and to give the necessary orders for the various agricultural equipment.
The CEO of Telnet Mohamed Frikha stressed that the launch of this project is part of the company’s strategy aimed at strengthening Tunisian capacities in the technologies of the future, in particular space technologies and the intranet of objects, noting in this context that the success of this experience confirms the value of Tunisian skills which are capable of making Tunisia a leading African and Arab country in the technological field, adding that Tunisia has all the assets to access the status of a pioneering country in the field of smart agriculture and it is capable of making a qualitative leap in this field.
In the same context, the Director-General of the National Institute of Field Crops, Tarek Jarrahi, said that as part of the continued adaptation of modern technologies to develop the field of field crops, the partnership with Telnet Group aims, in its initial phase, to adopt for the first time the technology of the Internet of things by space in the collection of data on the climate and the state of agriculture, which helps the farmer to make decisions and apply best practices to optimize yields.
