13-year-old innovator creates a smart system to help Indian farmers

The INSPIRE scheme (Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research) is one of the flagship programmes of the Department of Science & Technology (DST) under Government of India. It gives out INSPIRE Awards – MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspirations and Knowledge), aiming to motivate scientific innovation in class 6-10 students. 

One of the achievers of this award is Avika Bansal of Class 8 from Apeejay School, Noida. She recently won a cash prize of Rs 10,000 for her outstanding model ‘SIMS’ (Smart Irrigation Monitoring System), which helps save water during irrigation.  In a detailed interview, the young achiever explains how the model measures the moisture level in the soil and gives a signal in accordance with the quantity of water required. Read edited excerpts:

How does this model help in saving water? And what inspired it?

As a child, I saw how a lot of gardeners near my residence had to face difficulties while watering the plants.  It took them a lot of time, and a lot of water was also wasted on occasions. Hence, this project named ‘SIMS’ which translates into Smart Irrigation Monitoring System helps in watering the plants in a smart way, by monitoring the soil moisture level. 

I have connected it to a micro:bit. So, if the moisture goes beyond the limit, it sends a signal to the tank to water the plants. And if the moisture level is too high, then it automatically won’t water the plants. I have set 90 as the level when the soil is about to get dry. Also, if it is raining, then it naturally won’t let the system water the plants.

Wow, quite innovative! How did your school help with this?

I came to know about this competition due to my school. My science teacher Tilky ma’am and head of the science department Pinky ma’am informed me about this competition. I was skeptical about the project, but they encouraged me and were confident that it would get selected. They told me how to go about it and helped me a lot. 

Seems like you want to become a scientist in the future. Is that correct?

I want to become an entrepreneur. I want to work on more science-based innovations, maybe make the SIMS project more compact.

How much time did it take you to build this model?

I have been working on similar projects since class 6. Before this project came, I had gone for a competition named, ‘Young Innovators Challenge’ at my father’s office. For that competition, I prepared a similar model which  was viewed by many visiting professors from abroad and I also received two prizes. 

The SIMS project is similar to that and it didn’t take me long to prepare it, just 2-3 months. I integrated software and hardware with the help of a micro:bit which I programmed.  I have previously also made an automatic hand sanitiser model during the pandemic.  

Any more upcoming projects?

I want to integrate this project using an app. It would help stream the data so that the user can see all the information regarding soil moisture on their phone. I hope it can help the farmers one day.