Toro, Jain win ag categories in IA new product contest

The Irrigation Association, Fairfax, Virginia, announced the results of its 2021 New Product Contest Dec. 9, with Toro Ag being crowned the winner of the agriculture irrigation category and Jain Irrigation as the winner of the agriculture specialty category.

This year’s contest was a hybrid event – combining both virtual and live elements. All products and technologies entered in the contest were featured in the online product showcase and displayed in person at the 2021 Irrigation Show and Education Week held Dec. 6-10 in San Diego.

Forty new products and technologies were entered in the contest’s five categories: agriculture irrigation, agriculture specialty, landscape irrigation, landscape specialty and landscape lighting.

Contest judges examined the products via Zoom Nov. 17-18. Products were evaluated based on innovation, design quality, increased water/resource-use efficiency, ease of use and product life expectancy.

Toro Ag’s winning Toro Automation System is a cloud-based system for management of agricultural irrigation based on base stations and devices to control valves and report sensor feedback. It allows for more flexible water input scheduling based on precision irrigation.

Jain Irrigation’s winning Jain Water Management Services takes a highly integrated approach to generate intelligent irrigation schedules, observing plant responses using satellite imaging while monitoring soil moisture conditions, weather and field irrigation events and providing irrigation consulting for maximizing water-use efficiency and improved yields.