The Faculty of Engineering, University of Nairobi, Aston University, and Solargen Technologies (SGT) have teamed up through a knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) to develop a smart irrigation system using solar and wind energy to provide year-round watering of land to improve crop production in Kenya. The team representing the University of Nairobi in this project are; Prof. Ayub Gitau and Dr. George Kamucha from the University of Nairobi. Professor Gitau is an Associate Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and a professional agricultural engineer. Dr. Kamucha is a senior lecturer and Chairman of the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering who has extensive experience in advance control systems as well as advance model predictive control systems.
This KTP will use a hybrid source of solar and wind energy to power ‘smart sensors’ and ‘control systems' to automatically deliver the right amount of water for a given crop type and maintain the required soil moisture level, resulting in increased crop yields. The results of the collaboration will support farmers in Kenya and increase company revenue by 77%.
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