Electronic-nose for plant health monitoring in a closed environment system

Abstract

With the net zero carbon emissions target by 2050, in the agricultural sector, it is essential to employ technologies to reduce the consumption of energy and resources while enhancing the yield of crops. Learning about how measurable signals can indicate the growth status of various plants will be beneficial for designing plant health monitoring systems (PHMSs) that can be used around the globe for the efficient growth of plants. In this work, we have designed and employed an array of gas sensors, acting as an electronic nose, to monitor the health status of lettuce being grown in a chamber by measuring the emission and consumption of various gases and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). While emission of ethylene is a strong indicator, we have found that accurate concentration measurements of CO2 and alcohols can also be used to assess the health status of the plant at its different stages of growth, particularly at the seedling and vegetative stages. ~20% change in the alcohol concentration and more than 2 folds increase in the equivalent CO2 level was observed when brown leaves started growing before the plant died. The results of the studies can help to design a simple PHMS that can help grow vegetables at a high yield with minimum supervision