Iran-Made Software Estimates Costs of Pressurized Irrigation Systems before Implementation

Researchers at the Department of Irrigation and Development Engineering at the University of Tehran achieved important practical results by conducting a study titled ‘Cost Modeling of Pressurized Irrigation Systems’ and found that this technological achievement played a fundamental role in optimizing the planning and management processes of water and soil project funds and is an important step towards improving the efficiency of irrigation systems and agricultural sustainability.

“In the first phase, a comprehensive database including independent variables (factors affecting costs) and dependent variables (costs of different parts of each system) was prepared in full detail from sprinkler and spot irrigation projects carried out in different parts of the country over a 20-year period,” said Khaled Ahmad Aali, a faculty member of the University of Tehran.

Noting that the dependent variable of this study, the cost of irrigation systems, was divided into cost of pumping station and central control system, cost of equipment inside the farm, cost of installation and operation of the system and pumping station, and total cost, he said, “In the next phase, using different feature selection techniques, the most important and effective features on the cost of different sections were identified.”

“For this, feature selection was carried out with different algorithms WCC, LCA, GA, PSO, ACO, ICA, LA, HTS, FOA, DSOS and CUK,” Ahmad Aali said.

“In the next stage, using the most effective selected variables, various models of multivariate linear regression, support vector regression, artificial neural networks, gene expression programming, genetic algorithm, decision tree and deep learning were used to estimate the costs of each section and based on different statistics, the best models in each section were introduced,” he added.

“After identifying the best features and models, the research entered the most important stage, namely the preparation of the software. ISCE (Irrigation Systems Cost Estimator) software is able to estimate the cost of different parts of the system with high precision and accuracy by receiving easily available variables in the pre-design stage of the pressurized irrigation system for both sprinkler and localized irrigation systems. Conclusion and evaluation of the software indicated the ability to develop and generalize its results to the international level,” Ahmad Aali explained.

In a relevant development in 2024, a knowledge-based company in Iran had also unveiled a smart irrigation and fertilization device that automatically meets the needs of 10 types of plants.

Ali Kamali and Masoumeh Razmavar, the founders of the knowledge-based company, have developed a smart device that automatically and exclusively gives water and fertilizer to each flower and plant and regulates the humidity of the environment.

This device, which has 10 outputs, can provide services to 10 different types of plants at the same time. Also, if you have several similar plants, you can connect them to one outlet.

“The system, which can be controlled and programmed via both the monitor and the web, is currently set manually, but plans are underway to develop a remote-controlled model,” Kamali told ANA.

“This device is ideal for environments where continuous monitoring of plants is difficult, like the villas, towers, hotels, schools and hospitals,” he added.

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