Automation of greenhouses has proved to be extremely helpful in maximizing crop yields and minimizing labour costs. The optimum conditions for cultivating plants are regularly maintained by the use of programmed sensors and actuators with constant monitoring of the system.
The Conventional method
Greenhouse farming is a methodology that helps in enhancing the yield of vegetables, fruits, crops etc. Greenhouses control the environmental parameters through manual intervention or a proportional control mechanism. As manual intervention results in production loss, energy loss, and labour cost, these methods are less effective. A smart greenhouse can be designed with the help of IoT this design intelligently monitors as well as controls the climate, eliminating the need for manual intervention.
conventional way
Disadvantages:
1. Manual system is which the farmers or employees have to provide the field with water manually.
2. Wastage of water
3. Wastage of time
4. Standing water damages plants and reduces yields for edible crops
5. Crop/plant life is damaged due to excess or inadequate amount of water.
PROPOSED SYSTEM
Sprinklers
Working with Smart Irrigation System using IoT
In the agriculture field, sensors are used like soil moisture. The information received from the sensors is sent to the Database folder through the Android device. In the control section, the system is activated using the application, this is finished using the ON/OFF buttons in the application. Also, this system is automatically activated when the soil moisture is low, the pump is switched ON based on the moisture content.
The application has a feature like taking some time from the user and water the agriculture field when the time comes. In this system, there is a switch used to turn off the water supply if the system fails. Other parameters such as the moisture sensor demonstrate the threshold price and the level of water in the soil.
The micro-controller and sensors are successfully interfaced and wireless communication is attained between a variety of nodes.
Block diagram:
Explanation of Block diagram 1:
The above block diagram consist of a power supply, motor/pump, water sprinkler, plants/crops present in the field, moisture sensor, Rugged board.
After switching on the power supply of rugged board and switching on the motor /pump water is passed through the sprinklers to the fields which have plants/crops present in them, as you can see a moisture sensor is present which senses the moisture content of the soil and provides the necessary information to the extension board (which can be a wifi module, zigbee ,cloud etc. rugged board is directly connected to the cloud or any of these boards which helps in this process to provide the necessary amount of water to the plants/crops without wasting any water.
Block diagram:
Explanation of Block diagram 2:
The above block consist of a P.I.D block, set-point, Sensor , Irrigation field the set-point is used to set the desired temperature which is required for the plants/crops which are present in the Irrigation field. Now after some time the temperature might increase or decrease depending upon the climatic conditions in the environment, this change in temperature is detected by the sensor and the feedback is provided to PID which in return makes the necessary adjustment in the temperature which is suitable for the Irrigation field. This is how the above process working takes place.
Thus, the IoT agricultural applications are making it possible for ranchers and farmers to collect meaningful data. Large landowners and small farmers must understand the potential of IoT market for agriculture by installing smart technologies to increase competitiveness and sustainability in their productions. With the population growing rapidly, the demand can be successfully met if the ranchers, as well as small farmers, implement agricultural IoT solutions in a prosperous manner.
#smart agriculture, #iot in agriculture, #ruggedboard, #open source hardware