Precision agriculture using remote monitoring systems in Brazil

Abstract

Soil and nutrient depletion from intensive use of land is a critical issue for food production. An understanding of whether the soil is adequately treated with appropriate crop management practices in real-time during production cycles could prevent soil erosion and the overuse of natural or artificial resources to keep the soil healthy and suitable for planting. Precision agriculture traditionally uses expensive techniques to monitor the health of soil and crops including images from satellites and airplanes. Recently there are several studies using drones and a multitude of sensors connected to farm machinery to observe and measure the health of soil and crops during planting and harvesting. This paper describes a real-time, in-situ agricultural internet of things (IoT) device designed to monitor the state of the soil and the environment. This device was designed to be compatible with open hardware and it is composed of temperature and humidity sensors (soil and environment), electrical conductivity of the soil and luminosity, Global Positioning System (GPS) and a ZigBee radio for data communication. The field trial involved soil testing and measurements of the local climate in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The measurements of soil temperature, humidity and conductivity are used to monitor soil conditions. The local climate data could be used to support decisions about irrigation and other activities related to crop health. On-going research includes methods to reduce the consumption of energy and increase the number of sensors. Future applications include the use of the IoT device to detect fire in crops, a common problem in sugar cane crops and the integration of the IoT device with irrigation management systems to improve water usage.