The WaterBee Smart Irrigation Demonstration Action is the follow-on phase from the very successful FP7-SME-007-1 WaterBee “Research for SMEs” project (222440) that ended in September 2010, and very convincingly researched, developed & proved the concept of the WaterBee Prototype to provide a unique scientific soil-moisture model that automatically adapts to each installation & crop with a distributed Web-based Wireless Sensor Networked (WSN) Smart Irrigation system to optimize Water Use Efficiency (WUE) in irrigation. There is a pressing need and excellent commercial opportunity for such a system in Agriculture, which is the largest industry in the world and (according to the WWF), wastes 60% of the 2,500 trillion liters of water it uses each year – which is 70% of the world’s accessible freshwater – a huge threat to the environment. A major culprit is inefficient water irrigation systems. The project has characterized and quantified the market, and identified potential users of a commercial WaterBee service. Based on these and ongoing feedback from the demonstration sites, the project is disseminating the WaterBee service to potential customers and business partners through various media and two specific events, and has developed and is validating a Business Plan for the SMEs to commercially develop and exploit the service after this Demo Action ends.

Project Results

WaterBee is a complete, resilient, cost-effective Smart Irrigation and Water Management system, that empowers growers, vineyards, golf clubs, public authorities, and landscape managers to optimize their commercial and sustainable environmental operations. The web sensor networked irrigation system is centrally monitored and coordinated, and the WaterBee services are provided across Europe through collaborating Business Partners, who work closely with their local customers. The WaterBee system provides a range of advantages to meet current growers needs: Greater control over your irrigation needs and earns more profit per acre through the efficient use of water and other inputs Accurate and complete information on crop and field conditions Easy-to-use Smartphone and Web Apps to support crop irrigation decisions with real-time data Full service, with no worries about software support or equipment maintenance Lower operating costs, great yields, and higher quality crops.