Less Drop more crop by auto irrigation system using microcontroller and soil moisture sensor

Abstract

newlineThe process of providing water at root zone at appropriate time is called irrigation. newlinePlants draw water from wet soil, by process of evapo-transpiration (ET) plants transpire newlinewater into atmosphere and draw nutrients available in soil with water for the growth by newlineroot zone. When availability of water in root zone goes below a threshold limit plants newlinecannot draw nutrients and water for its nourishment. Therefore, it becomes essential to newlineprovide good quality water at the root zone before the threshold limit is reached. This newlinethreshold limit depends upon types of plants, soil, and environment. Since, the threshold newlinelimit is different for different types of plants.Water and power are natural resources that should not be wasted. It can be saved by newlinedoing irrigation system automatic and by using telemetry system for maintaining newlinecommunication between farm unit and farmer, so that farmer can switch ON and OFF newlinethe water pump by telemetry system just by giving command to irrigation system in one newlineclick. This system is fully automatic and there are following advantages of using this newlinesystem. newline· Save water newline· Save power newline· Save manpower newline· Improve soil fertility newline· Improve the salinity of soil newline· Improve growth of weeds newlineThe study gives a detailed setup which is fully controlled by the microcontroller to newlinereduce manpower, increase water use efficiency by 70% and power consumption by newline65% as compared with existing systems. newline