Principal Investigator Amos Winter
Project Website http://gear.mit.edu/Research_Projects/Low_Pressure_Drip.html
We are developing drip irrigation systems that can run on 10X lower pressure than conventional systems. Drip irrigation reduces water consumption by up to 60% compared to conventional flood irrigation methods. And it enables poor farmers to grow more and higher-value crops to lift themselves out of poverty. Lowering pumping pressure in an irrigation system proportionally reduces pumping power; we aim to reduce pumping power requirements to the point where solar-powered, off-grid drip systems become economically viable for the approximately one billion subsistence farmers in the developing world. Our drip technology is biologically inspired by flow restrictors found in nature, such as the bronchi found in the lungs.