Soil Care: IoT-Based Fertilizer Distribution and Irrigation System for Optimal Crop Management

Conservation and efficient utilization of water and nutrients remain a significant issue in agriculture, particularly in countries like Bangladesh, where traditional management practices lead to the wastage of these resources. This paper introduces the design and development of Soil Care, an IoT-based smart irrigation and automatic fertilizer deployment system, to maximize crop yield and minimize resource usage. The system automatically adjusts the volume of irrigation and fertilization according to the type of crop and soil health based on realtime soil conditions monitored by soil moisture and nutrient sensors. It is connected wirelessly, allowing data to be sent to a central dashboard and enabling monitoring and management to be performed from the cloud. Experimental testing in three crops-tomato, bell pepper, and rice-showed clear water use efficiency and customized nutrient delivery. Results showed that adaptive precision farming has great potential in terms of crop yield increase, decreased human labor, and sustainable agriculture it can bring.