We built Crop Water to answer two questions.
History
In 1993, following six years of academic studies and eight years of water research at the Glen Agricultural Institute, the University of the Free State, and the University of Pretoria, our founder, Bertus van der Westhuizen, identified a major challenge facing irrigation farmers. While farmers knew that Irrigation Scheduling leads to increased crop yields and water savings, they lacked the means to practically schedule their irrigation. At the time, soil monitoring hardware was prohibitively expensive and effective scheduling software simply did not exist.
To bridge this gap, Bertus developed a pioneering software scheduling program: "The Irricheck Skedulerings Program". He also solved the problem of expensive soil moisture monitoring equipment by utilizing Neutron moisture meters across multiple farms. By factoring in crop variables, daily rainfall, irrigation, daily minimum and maximum temperatures, and estimated wind speeds, the program simulated real-time soil water usage and the required irrigation schedule for the week ahead. To guarantee precision, these digital simulations were verified and calibrated against weekly, manual Neutron moisture measurements.
What started as a basic irrigation scheduling system eventually evolved into the Irricheck Pulse program, where weekly manual readings were replaced by hourly data from continuous-logging soil moisture probes. Today, after three decades of practical experience, we continue to build on that original spirit of innovation by introducing the Crop Water program to help farmers optimize their water use in both irrigation and dryland crop production.
In house manufacturing to lower costs: To reduce the cost of monitoring equipment, CropWater manufactures its own complete range of hardware: probes, Irricom communication units, automatic rain gauges, automatic weather stations, pivot monitors, pump start units, water level sensors and soil augers. To lower farmers’ initial capital costs, all equipment can be either rented or purchased.
Why Choose Us?
- Integrity: Throughout our business, we value and apply Faith in God, Love, Respect, Honesty, Reliability, Accountability, Integrity, and Competence.
- Dual Moisture Management: We provide the only program on the market that offers both Irrigation Scheduling and Dryland Moisture Management.
- Advanced Crop Water Software: Built entirely from scratch following 6 years of academic study (MSc. Agric), 8 years of water-related research and 32 years of hands-on experience in Irrigation Scheduling. Crop Water delivers precise, next-generation water management. We truly understand crops, soils, climate, farmers, and the bottom line.
- Accurate measurements, Calibration and Simulations: We ensure precision by pairing hourly measurement, unique calibration techniques with highly accurate hourly simulations.
- Cost effectiveness with our technical Self-Service Model: Farmers can handle technical self-service directly on the farm to eliminate expensive travel costs, while still receiving a full consultation service for setting up fields, configuring equipment, and refining data.
- In-House Manufacturing & Rentals: To reduce the cost of monitoring equipment, Crop Water manufactures its own complete range of hardware: probes, Irricom communication units, automatic rain gauges, automatic weather stations, pivot monitors, pump start units, water level sensors and soil augers. To lower farmers’ initial capital costs, all equipment can be either rented or purchased