AI-enabled system for 'smart' aqua farming developed

Anakoderu (AP): A smartphone-based artificial intelligence (AI) system may help remotely manage aqua farms by monitoring water and temperature conditions through sensors and automatically taking preventive measures.

Demonstrated by a multi-national start-up cFog in Andhra Pradesh, the solar powered system could revolutionise the decades-old practice of shrimp farming by allowing farmers to manage their ponds using smartphones.

Aqua farming is a collective term used for the practice of raising fish, shrimps or prawns in artificial ponds. To ensure maximum yield, levels of dissolved oxygen, ammonia, pH and temperature need to be constantly monitored.

At present, farmers collect water samples and take it to nearby laboratories for testing.

"These tests are not accurate. The moment we take water samples in a container, the dissolved oxygen level becomes different from that in the pond," said Sriram Pulagham, who owns a shrimp farm in Anakoderu, a village in Andhra Pradesh's West Godavari district.

"As for ammonia, the levels might increase by the time we get the lab test results. It would mean that the shrimps are exposed to high ammonia levels for days. By the time we take any action, it is too late," Pulagham, an engineering graduate, told PTI.

The new system costs 75,000 rupees and is equipped with sensors which can constantly monitor the water parameters and alert the farmer through a smartphone app in case of any fluctuations.

The device can automate aerators and feeders across multiple ponds, reducing energy bills as well as manual labour required to manage the farm, the company said.