Publication

Abstract : Unplanned use of fertilizers leads to inferior quality of crops. Excess of one nutrient can make it difficult for the plant to absorb the other nutrients. To deal with this problem, the quality of soil is tested using a PH sensor that indicates the percentage of macronutrients present in the soil. Conventional methods used to test soil quality, involve the use of Ion Selective Field Effect Transistors (ISFET), Ion Selective Electrode (ISE) and Optical Sensors as the sensing units which were found to be very expensive. The prototype design will allow sprinkling of fertilizers to take place in zones which are deficient in these macronutrients (Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium), proving it to be a cost efficient and farmer-friendly automated fertilization unit. Cost of the proposed unit is found to be one-seventh of that of the present methods, making it affordable for farmers and also saves the manual labor. Initial analysis and intensive case studies conducted in farmland situated near Ambedkar Nagar, Sarjapur also revealed the use of above mechanism to be more prominent and verified through practical implementation and experimentation as it takes lesser time to analyze the nutrient content than the other methods which require soil testing. Sprinklers cover discrete zones in the field that automate fertilization and reduce the effort of farmers in the rural areas. This novel technique also has a fast response time as it enables real time, in-situ soil nutrient analysis, thereby maintaining proper soil pH level required for a particular crop, reducing potentially negative environmental impacts. © 2017 IEEE.