French IoT applications specialist Kerlink is to provide Israeli ag tech developer Saturas with LoRa-based hardware and software as the Israeli company launches its smart irrigation technology commercially. Saturas is a recipient of an EU Horizon 2020 EUR 1.5 million grant for the development of a stem-water measurement system designed for highly efficient farming.

Kerlink is a provider of solutions for designing, launching, and operating public and private LoRaWAN IoT networks. It offers a product portfolio of industrial-grade network equipment, network-core, operations, and management software, and value-added applications.

Saturas, an Israeli startup, has raised about $9 million, including a EUR 1.5 million H2020 grant from the European Commission in 2019, to support its miniature, tree-embedded sensor system that continuously measures stem water potential (SWP) of trees and vines. SWP is seen as a reliable measurement of water stress and an important practical tool for irrigation management. 

Saturas is the first company to develop a system for measuring SWP automatically, replacing cumbersome manual devices that fruit-tree and vineyard growers have used for decades. Using Kerlink stations, the company’s tiny LoRa sensors transmit processed data to central, automated irrigation-control systems, tailoring irrigation to crops’ real-time needs.

Kerlink will supply Saturas’s deployments with hardware and software such as its solar-powered Wirnet iStation, Wanesy Management Center, a robust solution for managing private IoT networks, and Wanesy Network-as-a-Service, a turnkey comprehensive offer combining key infrastructure, operations, security, and professional services.

“Precision agriculture, led by precision irrigation, is a vital and rapidly growing global business sector with an estimated annual growth rate of over 20 percent,” said Anat Halgoa Solomon, Saturas co-founder & CEO_._ “Saturas is positioned to establish a strong presence in this market, and it is vital that we partner with the leading, most reliable companies in the supply chain. The quality of Kerlink’s hardware and software solutions has been proven many times in diverse, []challenging environments around the world, and will be a natural fit for our global commercial rollout.”

“Smart farming, or ag-tech, is one of the Internet of Things’ most important vertical markets but it needs the breakthrough innovations that companies like Saturas are bringing to fields and orchards to deliver on its promise,” said Romain Weryk, Kerlink key account manager. “Kerlink’s equipment and software, with their flexibility for supporting customised private networks, are the backbone of IoT networks across more than 120,000 installations in 69 countries.”