Smart Irrigation, Crop Enhancement and Agricultural Waste Management using Geospatial Technique at Gadap, Sindh

Project Title

Smart Irrigation, Crop Enhancement and Agricultural Waste Management using Geospatial Technique at Gadap, Sindh

Project Area of Specialization Artificial IntelligenceProject Summary

The agriculture sector is the prime consumer of water resources that consumes about 70% of the global freshwater reserves. In the water scarce countries like Pakistan where the per capita water availability has fallen to 930 m3/year, with 22 Mha of its land area under cultivation, and 93% of its fresh water resources allocated for the agriculture sector having an overall irrigation efficiency less than 40% , water conserving irrigation methods have become essential.

Due to the old conventional methods of farming and lack of knowledge of local farmers about the actual daily crop water requirement and soil moisture availability , excessive or under irrigation is applied that leads to water logging and crop water stress conditions respectively ,ultimately leading to reduced crop yields and wastage of limited water resources. The relation between the climate and crop water demand and soil moisture availability is significant as the crop water requirement and soil moisture availability varies strongly with the weather conditions of an area. Therefore, soil moisture monitoring and assessment of daily weather conditions is essential for proper irrigation scheduling and water conservation.

The developed countries have shifted to smart field monitoring approach for measuring the soil moisture, field water availability, and weather conditions at the crop field. This project deals with the application of soil moisture and water sensors to be installed in a cotton crop field in Gadap town of Sindh province for real time field monitoring throughout the growing season of the crop. These IOT based smart soil and water sensors would help to monitor the accurate and detailed real time conditions of available water depth on the field, soil moisture ,soil temperature , soil nutrient availability, salt content ,and TDS availability in the crop root zone during all growth stages of the crop thus saving time and labor cost and leading to efficient and properly planned irrigation scheduling and fertilizer application as per the crop need. As discussed above, the weather conditions strongly influence the soil moisture availability, irrigation scheduling ,and ultimately the crop yield. To measure the daily weather conditions at the agricultural field during the growing season, a smart IOT based weather tracker is to be installed in this study to observe and forecast daily precipitation, air temperature, humidity, and solar radiation at the location. The continuous real time weather data obtained from this smart weather tracker would help the farm managers to prepare the crop field for extreme weather conditions like heat waves, frosting ,heavy rainfall , and drought. Cotton is a Kharif crop that is grown in months of May-August in Pakistan.

Project Objectives

The prime objective of this project is to apply smart technology in place of the old and conventional time ,cost , and labor consuming methods to monitor the real time field conditions of a crop. The main crop field parameters that usually needs to be monitored includes the soil moisture availability in the crop root zone ,soil temperature, nutrient availability, available water depth on the field , and daily weather conditions, particularly air temperature, humidity, and wind speed. This project tends to study the merits and effectiveness of IOT based smart devices in agriculture, that will be later communicated to the agricultural industry , farmers association , and policy makers of the country thus benefiting the agriculture community and ultimately the economy of country.

Project Implementation Method

The implementation plan for this project involves the installation of smart IOT based soil moisture sensors at selected locations across the field in Gadap town to monitor the daily soil moisture, soil temperature , and nutrient availability in the root zone during the growing season of crop that will help in irrigation scheduling, fertilizer application, and to avoid water stress conditions . Cotton is a Kharif crop that is grown in months of May to August in Pakistan. To monitor the available water depths on the field during the season , IOT based water sensors are to be installed across the field for the real time monitoring of water levels on the field. The number of sensors and its spatial distribution will be decided after the preliminary survey of the field. To monitor the daily air temperature, precipitation ,wind speed ,and humidity in the area as well as to forecast extreme weather events, smart weather trackers based on IOT will be installed at a suitable location. The GIS tool(QGIS) will used to prepare the topographic and soil maps of the study area as well as temporal monitoring of the crop field coupled with frequent site visits. A drone camera technology will also be deployed to monitor the crop health and its areal extent through out the study period. 

Benefits of the Project

The prime expected outcomes and benefits of this project includes the replacement of old and conventional farming methods that are cost, time and labor consuming coupled with lack of reliable and continuous real time data series with a latest and smart IOT based approach that will help to conserve the stressed freshwater resource of the country. The smart sensors to be used in this study will help in continuous real time monitoring of soil parameters and available water on the field during the different crop growth stages that will help in timely irrigation, fertilizer application and water saving, ultimately resulting in high crop yields, increased water use efficiency and more economic benefits to the local farmers. The success of this project will help the team members of the project to convey its outcomes to the farmer association of the country and policy makers through a relevant and appropriate channel and later, this approach can be adopted with full confidence by the farmers.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

1. IOT based Water level sensors: Will help in real time monitoring of the available water depths on the field throughout the growing season and at different growth stages of the crop that will help to decide when to irrigate and how much to irrigate

2. IOT based soil sensors: The IOT based soil sensors installed across the field will help the farm managers to continuously monitor the soil moisture content, soil temperature , and soil nutrient availability throughout the growing season, that will help to avoid over or under irrigation and on time application of water and fertilizers as per the crop need.

3. Satellite based remote sensing: A remote sensing tool namely QGIS to be used in the project would help the farm managers in preparation of soil and topographic maps of study area ,temporal monitoring of crop health throughout the growing season , and areal extent of crop growth.

Final Deliverable of the Project HW/SW integrated systemCore Industry AgricultureOther Industries Education Core Technology Artificial Intelligence(AI)Other Technologies OthersSustainable Development Goals Decent Work and Economic Growth, Responsible Consumption and ProductionRequired Resources

Item Name	Type	No. of Units	Per Unit Cost (in Rs)	Total (in Rs)
			Total in (Rs)	70000
Outdoor Weather Station Smart Wireless Solar Powered Digital Automati	Equipment	1	19000	19000
Smart Digital Water Timer, Electronic Timer Single Outlet Irrigation	Equipment	1	6000	6000
Temperature monitor iot devices wireless sensor controller for smart	Equipment	1	20000	20000
Smart irrigation wireless garden Watering Device	Equipment	1	5000	5000
Soil moisture Tensiometer	Equipment	1	20000	20000