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agricultural-and-food-engineeringIIT Kharagpur researchers develop solar-powered pest control system

Hindustan Times (February 9, 2021)

IIT Kharagpur researchers develop a solar-powered pest control system for smaller agricultural fields

A team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur has developed an energy-efficient pest controlling device for smaller agricultural tracts owned by marginal farmers.
The team has built a self-propelled boom-type sprayer that can be operated using solar energy while safely guided through the crops in smaller tracts of land.

According to the team, which has also filed a patent, the semi-automated device is aimed at increasing field capacity and uniformity in liquid spraying, and also to reduce drudgery to the operator and dependency on fossil fuels for carrying out spraying in cropped areas.

"The system comprises a propelling unit fitted with a liquid storage tank, a DC motor operated pump to pressurise the liquid to be sprayed. Multiple numbers of spray nozzles are mounted on a boom fitted to the front of the machine to cover wider width at a time.

"A set of solar-powered battery acts as the power source of the DC motor to propel the spraying unit as well as for running the pump. Unlike a knapsack sprayer, the liquid storage tank is of bigger capacity, and it is carried on a solar-powered three-wheeler trolley," said Hifjur Raheman, professor at IIT Kharagpur. (Read More)