RURAL BRIDGE: A novel system for smart and co-operative farming using IoT architecture

Agriculture is the backbone of a nation's economy. Farmers play a key role in a country's development. Technology has a far reaching effect on every sphere of our lives. As such, if this technology could be used to manage natural resources, agricultural production can be improved. Rural bridge — a bridge to connect farmers and technology has been envisioned with this in mind. This paper presents Rural Bridge, an Internet of Things (IoT) based system that uses sensors to collect information such as temperature, humidity, soil moisture level, soil pH value, Ground Water Level (GWL), Surface Water Level (SWL) and stores this information on a cloud server. This data is made available to the experts as and when needed to analyze the data and find solutions for the issues so as to protect the crop from damage. These outcomes are recorded and then intimated to the farmers in that locality through a voice call. This cooperative effort to wed technology with traditional farming practices would help in increasing the productivity of the crop, and help the farmers to benefit monetarily. This in turn would improve the country's economy.