China is a country with a long history of agriculture, and agriculture occupies an important position in the entire national economy. Since the reform and opening up in the 80s, China's agriculture has developed rapidly, feeding 22% of the world's population with limited arable land, and creating achievements that have attracted the attention of the world.
There is a pain point in the development of facility agriculture in China, at present, the nutrient solution or pesticide in the production of facility horticulture is mainly deployed by hand in a larger pool, which covers a large area, has low efficiency, high cost, and is time-consuming and labor-intensive, which seriously restricts the development of facility agriculture in China.
There are some water and fertilizer irrigation equipment or pesticide application equipment, but the two are independent and separate equipment. The former uses the traditional venturi fertilizer applicator, and the accuracy of water and fertilizer and the amount of irrigation cannot be accurately controlled, which violates the principle of precise control in facility horticultural productionThe latter adopts manual spraying, and the timing and accuracy of pesticide application are difficult to grasp, which not only causes environmental pollution, but also causes great harm to the health of the operator due to the close contact between the pesticide and the operator.
In order to solve this problem, some scholars have designed intelligent equipment for the integration of water, fertilizer and medicine, which can meet the needs of fertilizer distribution, pesticide dispensing, root and foliar fertilization in greenhouse horticulture. The equipment is mainly composed of the main pump, peristaltic pump, EC and pH sensor, etc., which can be used for fertilizer or chemical dispensing in the irrigation pipeline.
The source water enters the fertilizer applicator pipeline from the inlet through the action of the main pump, and the water pressure is monitored by the pressure sensorWhen the peristaltic pump is working, the roller is driven to squeeze the hose by the rotation of the stepper motor, and the air or liquid in the hose is discharged to generate negative pressure, so as to absorb the liquid at one end of the hose, and pump the mother liquor (fertilizer liquid, medicine or acid with higher concentration) into the pipeline according to the set mixing ratio, and the pipeline mixer will mix the mother liquor with the source water evenly to further dilute the mother liquor;The conductivity and pH of the mixture are monitored by EC sensors and pH sensors, and the speed of the peristaltic pump is adjusted according to the conductivity and pHThe corresponding solenoid valve in the irrigation area is opened, and the mixture is discharged by the pump from the corresponding outlet.
Why does the integrated intelligent equipment of water, fertilizer and medicine choose peristaltic pumps?First of all, due to the high flow accuracy of the peristaltic pump, the speed can be adjusted, and the flow can be controlled by controlling the speed of the peristaltic pump motor. The proportion of water and fertilizer is also relatively accurate, and it is easy to achieve precise control of water and fertilizer. Secondly, the peristaltic pump can be cascaded with other equipment, driven by the same control system, and linked with other equipment, making the operation simpler and more convenient. The peristaltic pump also has the characteristics of simple structure and low maintenance cost, because the peristaltic pump has a simple structure, no valve, and only the hose is a wearing part, which can effectively save maintenance time when the equipment is running in the later stage.
The intelligent equipment for the integration of water, fertilizer and medicine has high precision, saves time and effort, and can be used and dispensed without the need to be equipped with a large pool. It has remarkable effects in saving water, fertilizer, medicine, increasing yield, saving industry and cost, and improving economic benefits, which is of great significance to the development of facility agriculture in China.