A Smart Irrigation Water Application System Based on Arduino Platform

Abstract

Water wastage, erosion, and crop water oversaturation has always been a problem associated with irrigation practice in Nigeria. A smart irrigation system based on Arduino platform was developed in this research to address this problem. The objective of the system is to automate water application to crops and at the same time optimize the use of water resources. The system consists of an Arduino module, data logger, LCD display, water pumps, water storage, moisture sensor, USB connector, and battery. A C++ program was written for the Arduino board so sense the moisture content of the soil, deter mine the wetness status and power the pumps for water application. The results of testing the system shows that the optimal use of irrigation water by the smart irrigation system was 97% more efficient than the traditional system and it can conveniently do irrigation at the rate of 0.063m3/ha. The system is recommended for large scale use especially for dry season farming.