The development of canal irrigation technology was briefly reviewed. In order to realize the precise control of irrigation canal water delivery in farmland, a remote intelligent control system of canal irrigation sluice was designed based on the Internet of things (IOT) and cloud architecture. The system was consisted of integrated rotary sluice, local control software, remote terminal access system and cloud middleware. Rotating structure was used to spool of the sluice in order to reduce the driving power consumption when opening and closing gates. An embedded local control system based on ARM was established to implement local control and data acquisition. Wireless communication module and photovoltaic power supply system were integrated to solve the problems of complicated wiring and difficult power supply in the field. Remote data transfer and control instruction delivery were implemented through database and cloud middleware in Ali cloud server. A cloud control model of gate opening based on double feedback of water level and flow was established to achieve intelligent operation of sluice groups. According to the rotating angular velocity variation of sluice at opening and closing stage, an abnormal warning method of sluice operation was put forward. Remote terminal access system, including B/S version and APP version was developed for users to monitor operation state data of the sluice group, remotely control any sluice, and carry out reasonable dispatch of water resources in the irrigation area. Experimental results showed that the remote intelligent control system had the characteristics of safe and reliable operation, fast response, high control accuracy and low maintenance cost. The intelligent control system of canal irrigation sluice could satisfy the precise control for water conveyance and distribution in the small and mediumsized irrigation canals.