PilowTech

Pilowtech is a low‑tech and low‑cost capacitive soil moisture sensing project developed within the OccitANum Open Lab for vegetable production. It supports irrigation management by providing regular soil water content data to growers. The project promotes self‑built connected soil moisture sensors that are affordable and accessible. Pilowtech helps reduce environmental impact and economic costs linked to inefficient irrigation.

Assistance / Boost program

Occitanum.

Innovative features of the initiative / solution

• Focus on low‑tech, low‑cost soil moisture sensors for irrigation decision support.
• Developed and tested through the OccitANum Open Lab Maraîchage in collaboration with farmers and Mobilab Agrotic.
• Sensors send regular measurements of soil water content linked to crop water needs.
• Involves self‑construction workshops organized for growers to build their own Pilowtech devices.
• Ongoing support and follow‑up by the Chambre d’Agriculture for installation, use optimization, and potential improvements.
• Encourages adoption of connected technologies (e.g., LoRa) adapted to field conditions.
• Anchored in a Living Lab approach where tools are tested in real agricultural environments.

Results obtanied

• Enhanced irrigation decision support through site‑specific soil moisture data.
• Increased awareness and use of digital/connected tools among participating growers.
• Greater accessibility and affordability of actionable irrigation monitoring technology.
• Reduction of water resource inefficiencies and mitigation of conditions favoring pests or plant stress.
• Strengthened skills and autonomy of farmers in building and implementing sensor solutions.
• Data collected in 2025 expected to qualify usage patterns and performance in real cultivation settings.

Lessons learned

Works well only with farmers who are highly motivated and keen on using “do-it-yourself” tools.

Useful links

• Occitanum Website

Download success storie as PDF