Intelligent Sensor Based Smart Irrigation System For Sustainable Agriculture

In nations where water is scarce, effective water management is crucial. Since a lot of water is used for agriculture, the effective utilization of water resource is the need of the hour and this also has an impact on the country’s economy. The potential ramifications of global warming prompt the development of water adaptation strategies to guarantee water supply for food production and consumption. As a result, research on reducing the amount of water used for irrigation has grown over time. The Internet of Things (IoT) is not only essential to industry 4.0, but it can also be used in smart farming. The work being presented here aims to create an intelligent, low-cost watering system. Here, water is supplied to the crop depending on the moisture content of the soil as well as the time period for sowing, growing and harvesting of crops. The moisture content of the soil is detected by using the moisture sensor and the collected data is forwarded to the Arduino, which acts as the processor deciding the opening and closing of solenoid valves to maintain the prescribed soil moisture level (dependent on the type of crop). The solenoid valve will be opened when moisture level falls below the threshold level. The solenoid valve can be programmed to perform automated tasks namely changing the direction, flow and speed of the water. The solenoid valve will be closed once the water level is attained. The advantages of the proposed system are limited manual intervention, efficient utilization of water resources, reduced electricity requirement with economically feasible hardware components.