An Intelligent Irrigation System for Rural Agriculture

Jerry John Kponyo; Kwasi Adu-Boahen Opare; Ahmed Abdul-Rahman; Justice Owusu Agyemang

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijaas.20190503.13

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An Intelligent Irrigation System for Rural Agriculture

Jerry John Kponyo, Kwasi Adu-Boahen Opare, Ahmed Abdul-Rahman, Justice Owusu Agyemang

Published in International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences (Volume 5, Issue 3)

Received: 11 January 2019 Accepted: 5 March 2019 Published: 13 July 2019

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Abstract

The agricultural sector significantly contributes to the economic growth of every country. This sector faces challenges with respect to producing the right quantity and quality of food. Most traditional methods used in growing crops are inadequate to ensuring food security. This challenge can be addressed by applying Information and Communication Technology (I.C.T.) in the agricultural sector. In the cultivation of crops, the use of proper irrigation method is essential in enhancing the growth and yield of crops. This research focuses on the application of information technology to provide the required amount of water needed by crops for growth. With the emergence of Internet of Things (IoT) which involves the interconnection of electronic devices to the Internet and the acquisition of data from these devices through the use sensors, an IoT based Intelligent Irrigation System was built. The Intelligent Irrigation System consisted of a transmitter and a receiver circuit (which is connected to a water pump via an actuator). The transmitter circuit was responsible for reading the moisture content of the soil and transmitting it wirelessly to the receiver. The receiver then made decisions on whether to trigger the pump on or off depending on the received soil moisture data. The Intelligent Irrigation System was piloted on a carrot farm. A total of 16 beds were constructed for the study. It was divided into 2 different blocks. The first block comprised of 8 beds which were manually irrigated and the second block was made up of 8 beds which were irrigated by means of machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. For pre-harvest, the performance indicators used were the height of the plants and the number of leaves per plant. The weight, length and diameter of the carrot plants were used as performance indicators for post-harvest. It was realized that the crops that were watered via M2M communication showed better growth performances as compared to those that were watered manually.

Published in	International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences (Volume 5, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijaas.20190503.13
Page(s)	75-81
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

GSM, RF, Microprocessor, IoT

References

[1]	Poonyth D., Hassan R., Kristen J. F., Calcaterra M., “Is Agricultural Sector Growth a Precondition for Economic Growth? The Case of South Africa, 2001”, 2001.
[2]	Siyu Chen, Nicola Fatras, Haoran Su, “Smart Water Irrigation System”, https://ecal.berkeley.edu/files/ce186/projects/chensiyu_late_4615034_63834617_FINAL%20REPORT_FATRAS_SU_CHEN.pdf, [Accessed Online 20^th December, 2018].
[3]	Michael D. Dukes, Mary Shedd, and Bernard Cardenas-Lailhacar, “Smart Irrigation Controllers: How do Soil Moisture Sensor (SMS) Irrigation Controllers Work?”, University of Florida.
[4]	S. Harishankar, R. Sathish Kumar, Sudharsan K. P., U. Vignesh, T. Viveknath, “Solar Powered Smart Irrigation System”, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Amrita University, Ettimadai, Coimbatore, India, 2014.
[5]	Jonathan A. Goldhill, “Why Smart Water Application Technology Makes Sense”, 2004.
[6]	Circuit Design using Fritzing, http://fritzing.org/home/, [Accessed Online 14^th December, 2018].
[7]	Archana and Priya, “Design and Implementation of Automatic Plant Watering System”, International Journal of Advanced Engineering and Global Technology, vol. 4, Issue 01, January, 2016.
[8]	Sonail D. Gainwar and Dinesh V. Rojatkar, “Soil Parameters Monitoring with Automatic Irrigation System”, International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Research, vol. 4, Issue 11, Nov. 2015.
[9]	R. Subalakshmi and Anu Amal, “GSM Based Automated Irrigation using Sensors”, Internal Journal of Trend in Research and Development, March, 2016.
[10]	Karan Kansara and Visahl Zaweri, “Sensor Based Automated Irrigation System with IoT”, International Journal of Computer Science and Information Technologies, vol. 6, 2015.
[11]	C. H. Chavan and V. Karnade, “Wireless Monitoring of Soil Moisture, Temperature and Humidity using ZigBee in Agriculture”, International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology, Vol. 11, May 2014.
[12]	Yunseop Kim and Robert G. Evans, “Remote Sensing and Control of an Irrigation System using a Distributed Wireless Sensor Network”, IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, vol. 56, July 2008.
[13]	433 MHz RF Transceiver and Receiver Module, https://components101.com/sites/default/files/component_datasheet/433%20MHz%20RF%20Receiver%20Module_0.pdf, [Accessed Online 14^th December, 2018 ].
[14]	Arduino Microcontroller, https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Products, [Accessed Online 15^th December, 2018].
[15]	Spark Fun Soil Moisture Sensor, https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13322, [Accessed Online 15^th December, 2018].

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APA Style

Jerry John Kponyo, Kwasi Adu-Boahen Opare, Ahmed Abdul-Rahman, Justice Owusu Agyemang. (2019). An Intelligent Irrigation System for Rural Agriculture. International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences, 5(3), 75-81. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaas.20190503.13

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ACS Style

Jerry John Kponyo; Kwasi Adu-Boahen Opare; Ahmed Abdul-Rahman; Justice Owusu Agyemang. An Intelligent Irrigation System for Rural Agriculture. Int. J. Appl. Agric. Sci. 2019, 5(3), 75-81. doi: 10.11648/j.ijaas.20190503.13

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AMA Style

Jerry John Kponyo, Kwasi Adu-Boahen Opare, Ahmed Abdul-Rahman, Justice Owusu Agyemang. An Intelligent Irrigation System for Rural Agriculture. Int J Appl Agric Sci. 2019;5(3):75-81. doi: 10.11648/j.ijaas.20190503.13

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@article{10.11648/j.ijaas.20190503.13,
  author = {Jerry John Kponyo and Kwasi Adu-Boahen Opare and Ahmed Abdul-Rahman and Justice Owusu Agyemang},
  title = {An Intelligent Irrigation System for Rural Agriculture},
  journal = {International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences},
  volume = {5},
  number = {3},
  pages = {75-81},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijaas.20190503.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaas.20190503.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijaas.20190503.13},
  abstract = {The agricultural sector significantly contributes to the economic growth of every country. This sector faces challenges with respect to producing the right quantity and quality of food. Most traditional methods used in growing crops are inadequate to ensuring food security. This challenge can be addressed by applying Information and Communication Technology (I.C.T.) in the agricultural sector. In the cultivation of crops, the use of proper irrigation method is essential in enhancing the growth and yield of crops. This research focuses on the application of information technology to provide the required amount of water needed by crops for growth. With the emergence of Internet of Things (IoT) which involves the interconnection of electronic devices to the Internet and the acquisition of data from these devices through the use sensors, an IoT based Intelligent Irrigation System was built. The Intelligent Irrigation System consisted of a transmitter and a receiver circuit (which is connected to a water pump via an actuator). The transmitter circuit was responsible for reading the moisture content of the soil and transmitting it wirelessly to the receiver. The receiver then made decisions on whether to trigger the pump on or off depending on the received soil moisture data. The Intelligent Irrigation System was piloted on a carrot farm. A total of 16 beds were constructed for the study. It was divided into 2 different blocks. The first block comprised of 8 beds which were manually irrigated and the second block was made up of 8 beds which were irrigated by means of machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. For pre-harvest, the performance indicators used were the height of the plants and the number of leaves per plant. The weight, length and diameter of the carrot plants were used as performance indicators for post-harvest. It was realized that the crops that were watered via M2M communication showed better growth performances as compared to those that were watered manually.},
 year = {2019}
}

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TY - JOUR
T1 - An Intelligent Irrigation System for Rural Agriculture
AU - Jerry John Kponyo
AU - Kwasi Adu-Boahen Opare
AU - Ahmed Abdul-Rahman
AU - Justice Owusu Agyemang
Y1 - 2019/07/13
PY - 2019
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaas.20190503.13
DO - 10.11648/j.ijaas.20190503.13
T2 - International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences
JF - International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences
JO - International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences
SP - 75
EP - 81
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2469-7885
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaas.20190503.13
AB - The agricultural sector significantly contributes to the economic growth of every country. This sector faces challenges with respect to producing the right quantity and quality of food. Most traditional methods used in growing crops are inadequate to ensuring food security. This challenge can be addressed by applying Information and Communication Technology (I.C.T.) in the agricultural sector. In the cultivation of crops, the use of proper irrigation method is essential in enhancing the growth and yield of crops. This research focuses on the application of information technology to provide the required amount of water needed by crops for growth. With the emergence of Internet of Things (IoT) which involves the interconnection of electronic devices to the Internet and the acquisition of data from these devices through the use sensors, an IoT based Intelligent Irrigation System was built. The Intelligent Irrigation System consisted of a transmitter and a receiver circuit (which is connected to a water pump via an actuator). The transmitter circuit was responsible for reading the moisture content of the soil and transmitting it wirelessly to the receiver. The receiver then made decisions on whether to trigger the pump on or off depending on the received soil moisture data. The Intelligent Irrigation System was piloted on a carrot farm. A total of 16 beds were constructed for the study. It was divided into 2 different blocks. The first block comprised of 8 beds which were manually irrigated and the second block was made up of 8 beds which were irrigated by means of machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. For pre-harvest, the performance indicators used were the height of the plants and the number of leaves per plant. The weight, length and diameter of the carrot plants were used as performance indicators for post-harvest. It was realized that the crops that were watered via M2M communication showed better growth performances as compared to those that were watered manually.
VL - 5
IS - 3
ER -

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Author Information

Jerry John Kponyo

College of Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
Kwasi Adu-Boahen Opare

College of Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
Ahmed Abdul-Rahman

College of Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
Justice Owusu Agyemang

College of Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Jerry John Kponyo, Kwasi Adu-Boahen Opare, Ahmed Abdul-Rahman, Justice Owusu Agyemang. (2019). An Intelligent Irrigation System for Rural Agriculture. International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences, 5(3), 75-81. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaas.20190503.13

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ACS Style

Jerry John Kponyo; Kwasi Adu-Boahen Opare; Ahmed Abdul-Rahman; Justice Owusu Agyemang. An Intelligent Irrigation System for Rural Agriculture. Int. J. Appl. Agric. Sci. 2019, 5(3), 75-81. doi: 10.11648/j.ijaas.20190503.13

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AMA Style

Jerry John Kponyo, Kwasi Adu-Boahen Opare, Ahmed Abdul-Rahman, Justice Owusu Agyemang. An Intelligent Irrigation System for Rural Agriculture. Int J Appl Agric Sci. 2019;5(3):75-81. doi: 10.11648/j.ijaas.20190503.13

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@article{10.11648/j.ijaas.20190503.13,
  author = {Jerry John Kponyo and Kwasi Adu-Boahen Opare and Ahmed Abdul-Rahman and Justice Owusu Agyemang},
  title = {An Intelligent Irrigation System for Rural Agriculture},
  journal = {International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences},
  volume = {5},
  number = {3},
  pages = {75-81},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijaas.20190503.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaas.20190503.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijaas.20190503.13},
  abstract = {The agricultural sector significantly contributes to the economic growth of every country. This sector faces challenges with respect to producing the right quantity and quality of food. Most traditional methods used in growing crops are inadequate to ensuring food security. This challenge can be addressed by applying Information and Communication Technology (I.C.T.) in the agricultural sector. In the cultivation of crops, the use of proper irrigation method is essential in enhancing the growth and yield of crops. This research focuses on the application of information technology to provide the required amount of water needed by crops for growth. With the emergence of Internet of Things (IoT) which involves the interconnection of electronic devices to the Internet and the acquisition of data from these devices through the use sensors, an IoT based Intelligent Irrigation System was built. The Intelligent Irrigation System consisted of a transmitter and a receiver circuit (which is connected to a water pump via an actuator). The transmitter circuit was responsible for reading the moisture content of the soil and transmitting it wirelessly to the receiver. The receiver then made decisions on whether to trigger the pump on or off depending on the received soil moisture data. The Intelligent Irrigation System was piloted on a carrot farm. A total of 16 beds were constructed for the study. It was divided into 2 different blocks. The first block comprised of 8 beds which were manually irrigated and the second block was made up of 8 beds which were irrigated by means of machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. For pre-harvest, the performance indicators used were the height of the plants and the number of leaves per plant. The weight, length and diameter of the carrot plants were used as performance indicators for post-harvest. It was realized that the crops that were watered via M2M communication showed better growth performances as compared to those that were watered manually.},
 year = {2019}
}

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