Farmo Paddy Water Level Sensor and Remote Irrigation Gates

farmo, Inc. is a Japanese agricultural IoT company established in 2005 in Utsunomiya, Tochigi. It develops low-cost sensors, cloud services and its own LPWA network so that rice farmers, greenhouse growers, land improvement districts and municipalities can monitor and control water and field conditions without visiting each site.

The paddy line includes a water level sensor (with optional water temperature) that alerts farmers when levels cross set thresholds, a supply gate for open channels and a retrofit valve for pipelines, which together enable automatic water intake. Other products cover greenhouse climate (House Farmo), open fields, livestock barns, reservoirs and canals (Aqua Monitor and Aqua Drive gate actuator), weather stations and a power-free camera. Devices connect through more than 3,000 farmo base stations with no monthly fees, and Farmo Studio, CSV export and an API support multi-site management.

• Water level sensor: shows paddy water level and temperature on a phone with threshold alerts.
• Supply gate and valve: open and close water intake remotely, with automatic filling linked to the sensor.
• Aqua Monitor and Aqua Drive: ultrasonic level monitoring up to 6 m and retrofit actuators for sluice gates.
• House Farmo: greenhouse temperature, humidity, light, CO2, soil moisture and EC every five minutes.
• farmo network: own LPWA base stations, with an antenna covering about 1.5 km radius.
• Farmo Studio and API: multi-field dashboard, CSV export and API access for in-house systems.

• Large rice cooperatives in the Mekong Delta monitoring water levels across many plots for alternate wetting and drying.
• Irrigation management companies remotely monitoring reservoirs, canals and sluice gates.
• Carbon project developers collecting paddy water data as evidence for methane reduction credits.

• Removes daily field patrols by showing paddy water levels on a phone and alerting on sudden changes.
• Automatic water intake through gates and valves lets one farmer manage hundreds of plots.
• No monthly communication or app fees; customers pay only for the device.
• Water management data can support J-Credit carbon applications, as in the 2026 Faeger model.

Rice farming in Asia faces shrinking labour, larger consolidated holdings and pressure to cut methane through water management practices such as extended mid-season drainage. Low-cost water level sensing with free connectivity fits these needs, and is relevant to Vietnam's Mekong Delta programme for low-emission rice and to irrigation companies managing canals.

farmo, Inc. was established on 1 November 2005 and is headquartered in Utsunomiya, Tochigi, with 29 employees and capital of 100 million yen. Shareholders include Agri Business Investment & Development Corporation. As of August 2026 it had shipped 54,658 devices and built 3,183 base stations. In 2026 it partnered with Faeger on a water management and J-Credit model.