A Soil Moisture Indicator (SMI) was launched by Bakshi Ram, Director of ICAR - Sugercane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, on the institute premises on Wednesday.
On the occasion, Mr. Bakshi Ram said that of late, depletion of water resources in agriculture had been a cause of serious concern.
He also remarked that irrigation methods such as irrigation-scheduling which used water prudently and effectively were rarely in practice in most farms today, especially in sugercane farms.
The newly launched moisture indicator would tell farmers the intervals in which lands ought to be irrigated. As a result of this, a considerable amount of water could be saved, he said.
Explaining how the device works, he said that the sensor rods of the SMI need to be inserted into the soil to a required depth for it to assess the soil moisture.
The level of moisture in soil would be indicated by glowing LED lights attached to the device.
He added that the device could be used for potted plants as well.
The institute had registered four designs of the device which were yet to be patented.
More details are available atwww.sugercane.res.inandwww.caneinfo.nic.in.
