John Njeru owns a small farm in central Kenya, where he grows tomatoes, spinach and carrots. A lack of rain has made times especially difficult for John but in times of desperation people get creative to find solutions. "Not only has there not been enough rain in the past few months, it's also been unevenly distributed," he said, picking through the earth in his hand. "This destroys our crops." But scientists from Kenya's Meru University of Science and Technology have come up with a solution which could help farmers, and it's an app. The app monitors the need for water in fields and controls irrigation equipment to deliver just what is needed. "Farmers in the region traditionally water crops with cans or buckets, an inefficient way of getting water to plants," said Daniel Maitethia, an electronics lecturer at Meru University. "The lack of measuring also means they water crops unevenly - so some may get too much water, and others not enough," he said. The "sensor-based automatic irrigation system" app, launched last year, uses sensors placed throughout a field to determine if soil is moist enough. If it's too dry, a control unit uses solar panels to open the valve of a water tank, then close it again when the soil is damp enough. The combined app and irrigation system costs 50,000 Kenyan shillings ($480) per quarter of an acre, including solar panels and two drip irrigation lines. The system can be expanded to an additional quarter acre for 5,000 Kenyan shillings ($48). "If there is a glitch in the system, the farmer receives a text message notifying him of the problem," he explained. "A technician employed by the university will then help the farmer remotely with instructions, or physically come to the farm if needed." "I used to lose up to 70 percent of my produce as a result of dry weather and inefficient irrigation, compared to only 10 percent now," he said. Source - voanews.com