IJISET - International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering & Technology, Vol.

6 Issue 3, March 2019

ISSN (Online) 2348 – 7968
www.ijiset.com

IoT Based Crop Field Monitoring and

Irrigation Automation System
Erastus Ogunti
1
P Department of Computer Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Akure,
P

Nigeria

Abstract country still depends heavily on the importation of food

Internet of Things (IoT) is a shared network of objects or items. A major reason for this is that agriculture in
things which can interact with each other Africa’s most populous nation does not embrace
provided there is internet connection. IoT can play an technology. There exist a large valley between the many
important role in the agricultural industry which can available research institutions and the local farmers.
feed over an estimated 9.5 billion people on the surface of Environmental parameters such as soil moisture content,
this earth by 2050. IoT based crop-field monitoring and temperature, humidity, pH,
automated irrigation system which also can be called solar radiation and many other factors, plays very
Smart farming system can help to reduce wastage, by important roles in overall development of the plant [1].
enabling the effective usage of fertilizer and soil water Farmers need agricultural information and pertinent
thereby increasing crop yield. In this work, a system is knowledge to make knowledgeable decisions and to satisfy
built to monitor informational needs. The unavailability of these
crop-field using sensors (Temperature, Humidity and Soil information with regards to water has reduced the average
moisture) and to automate the Nigerian farmer to a seasonal farmer that can only function
irrigation system. The data from sensors are sent to the with the cycle of the monsoon rainfall. Crops like maize,
Thingspeak API database using wireless sorghum and millet are only cultivated at certain time of
transmission. The data can be visualized on the designed the year In agricultural domain through the development
Web page where the readings from the of a
sensors can be viewed. The data are encoded in JavaScript knowledge management system, enquiries of farmers with
Object Notation (JSON) format. The irrigation is regards to crop behavior and the environment, can be
automated in that irrigation is only enabled when the soil answered with the help of multimedia
moisture of the field falls below the threshold for optimal which can be made easily accessible. The application of
crop growth. Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
The notifications are sent periodically to the web page has provided the opportunities for widening and promoting
dashboard as well as the mobile app developed for agriculture on several aspects and domains
farmers. The farmer can monitor the field conditions in developing countries. Technology has crossed hurdles
anywhere, anytime. by using wireless technology,
networking, and mobile connectivity to overcome the
Keywords: IoT, Sensors, Automated Irrigation, Systems
28T utilization of energy, power and cost consuming
Integration, Crop yield. equipment which are very difficult to come by in Nigeria,
but are very helpful in agricultural development. The
development of ICT in various
1. Introduction domains has driven substantial interest in raising
investments by private sectors and in the development of
Agriculture is as old as man himself. Agriculture has been many farming initiatives such as in rice and tomatoes
the most important practice from very farming [2].
beginning of the human evolution. It has seen many IoT has the capability to transform the world we live in, by
recapitulations of improvement in technology creating more efficient
with time. In Nigeria, a developing nation, tremendous industries, connected cars, and smarter cities in the not too
effort is focus on improving agricultural productivity. distant future. However, the
Though about 70% of the populations are farmers, the application of technology like IoT in agriculture could

124
 IJISET - International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering & Technology, Vol. 6 Issue 3, March 2019
ISSN (Online) 2348 – 7968
www.ijiset.com
have the greatest impact especially in the developing growth of the root and overall development of the crop [5].
world where there is paucity of infrastructure such as The practice of irrigation has always been an ancient
electricity and wired transmission lines. The availability of practice which has evolved through different
solar technology and wireless transmission systems and stages. For example, our forefathers watered their farms
the internet can be embraced to overcome these with the aid of buckets and watering cans
deficiencies, especially through the IoT system. while flood irrigation and sprinkler irrigation are part of
The global population is set to touch 9.5 billion by 2050 the types of irrigation that are still being
with a greater proportion of this growth happening in the practiced today. These systems have been hit with several
developing countries of which Nigeria is one. So to feed setbacks such as leaching off of soil
this much population, the nutrients, erosion (mainly due to flood irrigation), wastage
farming system must embrace IoT. Against the challenges of volumes of water, and many other deleterious effects on
such as extreme weather conditions and the farm. Automated
rising climate change, and environmental impact resulting irrigation systems can be very economical in this regard as
from intensive farming practices, the it helps to conserve water. However, the
demand for more food has to be met. savings from automatic irrigation systems can go beyond
Smart farming based on IoT technologies will enable that. Manual irrigation targets plant roots
growers and farmers to reduce waste and with no significant degree of precision. In disparity,
enhance productivity ranging from the quantity of fertilizer automated irrigation systems can be
utilized to the number of journeys the programmed to discharge more precise amounts of water
farm vehicles have to make [3]. in a targeted area, which promotes water
Smart farming is a capital intensive and hi-tech system of conservation [6].
growing food cleanly and sustainably The goal of technology is to make the lives of human
for the masses. It involves the application of modern ICT beings easier and simpler as long as the sun rises. It
practices and techniques therefore endeavor to extend the chain of electronic life to
into farming. the famers and provide a means of reducing the cost
In IoT based smart farming, a system is built for incurred during manual means of monitoring and
monitoring the crop field with the help of sensors. This irrigation, save time and energy, cater for the ever
affords the farmers the capability to increasing competition of water with urban domains
monitor the field conditions from anywhere. IoT- based in developing countries. Technology has crossed hurdles
smart farming is highly efficient when by using wireless technology,
compared with the conventional approach. networking, mobile, and so on, to overcome the utilization
In agriculture, irrigation is the important factor as the of energy, power and cost consuming
monsoon rainfalls are unpredictable and equipment. The automatic
uncertain. Agriculture in the face of water scarcity has functions are activated by feedback from field units and
been a big challenge. There exists a demand corrections in the flow parameters by
for colossal technical knowledge to make irrigation control of devices in the irrigation system until the desired
systems more efficient [4]. performance level is attained [7, 8].
Irrigation and agriculture are intricately related as the This system is therefore designed to monitor crop-field
former and the latter go hand in hand. The using sensors (soil moisture, temperature,
reason for this bond is because water is very essential and and humidity), automate the irrigation system and also
vital for the survival of any form of life. provide accurate weather condition analysis.
Irrigation is the application of controlled amounts of water The data from sensors are sent to web server database
to plants at needed interval in order to using wireless transmission. The irrigation
grow crops. Irrigation is soil moisture dependent because is automated since water is supplied to the crops if the
soil moisture is recognized as one of the moisture and temperature on the field falls below the brink
main drivers for plant bionetwork. Soil moisture content is (threshold) as determined by the water need of the crop.
a prerequisite for crop growth, and Notifications are sent to farmer’s mobile app periodically
excessive soil moisture content may bring about rot to the to acquaint him with happenings on his farm. The farmers
roots of crops, take away a lot of are therefore able to monitor the field
fertilizer which can cause water pollution, stop gaseous conditions anywhere, anytime..
exchange between soil and the atmosphere
which reduces root respiration and root growth [5]. Water
is critical for seed germination and uptake
of nutrients by the plant and therefore, optimum level of
moisture must be ensured for healthy

125
 IJISET - International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering & Technology, Vol. 6 Issue 3, March 2019
ISSN (Online) 2348 – 7968
www.ijiset.com

2. System Design and Integration parameters that are necessary for plant development. The
data from the field are gotten through
Monitoring of temperature, humidity and soil moisture the network of wireless sensors and transmitted through
without being present at the farm location WI-FI. The data is converted to human
helps us to get a better outcome. This is because the readable format and presented through the data
sensors work during the entire life cycle of the crops and is presentation. These data are analyzed and shown
present in-situ. Here, the main purpose is to design a to users through web design and development system and
system that will observe, mobile app. DHT11 temperature and humidity sensor, soil
control and monitor the crop-field environment and based moisture sensor were integrated with the
on the information from the sensors (i.e. MCU (Microcontroller ) of the ESP8266 NODE MCU to
temperature, relative humidity and soil moisture) trigger collect temperature, humidity and soil
the watering of the farm, thus making the administrator moisture readings from the farm field to be relayed to a
(farmer) to remote user over the internet. These sensor
manage the data in real time (Figure 1). Here, the central readings are sent back into the control system to enable
node which is a Thingspeak API is responsible for automated control. These readings are
passing information to management node via computer or displayed on the LCD screen for the farmer to know.
mobile phone. IoT based crop-field monitoring and
irrigation automation is designed to monitor various

Fig 1. Overview of system design

2.1 Sensor data acquisition design

DHT11 temperature and humidity sensor, soil moisture
sensor, YL 69 were integrated with the
MCU( Microcontroller ) of the ESP8266 NODE MCU
(Figure 2) to collect temperature, humidity and soil
moisture readings from the farm field to be relayed to a
remote user over the internet. These sensor
readings are sent back into the control system to enable
automated control. These readings are
being displayed on the LCD screen.
Fig. 2 Sensor data acquisition design
The data acquired from sensors are transmitted to the web
server using wireless transmission. Node MCU ESP8266

126
 IJISET - International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering & Technology, Vol. 6 Issue 3, March 2019
ISSN (Online) 2348 – 7968
www.ijiset.com
WI-FI module is used for wireless transmission between 2.2 Automation of Irrigation System
the field and the web server. The data received from the Irrigation system is automated once the control is received
field are wirelessly transmitted using WI-FI module of the from the web application or mobile
Node MCU ESP8266 and then saved in web server application. The relay was used to pass control from web
“Thingspeak” database using internet connection at the application to the electrical switches
receiver end. Periodically the data are received and stored using the Node MCU. A relay is an electrically operated
in database. The data processing is the task of checking the switch. The relay used here is Solid State
various sensors data received from the field with the Relay (SSR). If an external voltage is applied across the
already fixed threshold values. The threshold values vary ends the relay switches on or off the
according to the crops planted. This is because different circuit. The process flow for the irrigation automation is
crops need different amounts of water. Similarly, the shown in Figure 3.
temperature and humidity varies for different crops. The
sensor values also vary according to the climatic
conditions. The soil moisture will be different in summer
and winter seasons. The temperature and humidity also
varies in summer, winter and rainy season. The threshold
value is fixed after considering all these environmental and
climatic conditions. The motor will be switched on
automatically if the soil moisture value falls below the
threshold and vice versa. The farmer can even switch on
the motor from mobile using mobile application. Internet
of things receiver was designed using NODEMCU
ESP8266 Express Wi-Fi running a
proprietary algorithm for data communication using
HTTP. The Wi-Fi module communicates with the web
design and development system rule engine using
hypertext transfer protocol mode for the communication. Fig. 3 Process flow for irrigation
NODEMCU ESP8266 Wi-Fi module is
a self-contained system on chip (SOC) with integrated 2.3 Software Implementation
TCP/IP protocol stack that can give any The Arduino integrated development environment
microcontroller access to Wi-Fi network. Development of software (IDE) was used which helps to code
web server and web dashboard is an essential part of the the Arm Processor of the Node MCU to interface the
project for processing of sensors and other type of components
field data received to provide meaningful insight and and perform the operation on both local and global domain
visualize the data for public usage. Web with the help of library functions.
server was configured using Thingspeak, open source IoT Thingspeak account was also created through Mathworks
cloud platform from Mathworks with account creation where the log in
inbuilt functionalities to run MATLAB code, the data was username and passkey for connecting to the Thingspeak
analyzed using custom algorithm API for storage, processing and
written in python, JavaScript and MATLAB programming visualization of the sensor data using the MATLAB was
languages and web dashboard was done. In Thingspeak, channel ID, READ
developed and hosted for easy accessibility to the API KEY (2DD8XG6ZPNL4DHZO) and the WRITE API
visualized data using graphs and meter gauges. The mobile KEY (N46QM36MDLSOUEXM)
application was developed in android. The mobile were given. Under the channel, four forms were created
application helps to monitor and which corresponds to the measured
control the field from anywhere. The mobile application parameters from the field and water pump control. Figure
uses PHP script to fetch data from the 4 shows the flow diagram describing the sequence of
Thingspeak API database. The android fetches the data events during the software implementation phase of this
and encode it in JSON (JavaScript Object work.
Notation) format to be displayed in android device. The
user interface for the application was
designed in a way that enables both the monitoring and
control of field from the device.

127
 IJISET - International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering & Technology, Vol. 6 Issue 3, March 2019
ISSN (Online) 2348 – 7968
www.ijiset.com

Fig.5 Integration of the full circuit

Data aggregated are automatically sorted and converted to

excel sheet with Thingspeak data
export. Data aggregated from the prototype satellites were
visualized using Mathworks Thingspeak in real
time. Web dashboard was developed for public and instant
access to the data visualization. The
web dashboard contains visual elements that shows
various parameters measured by the sensors,
the on and off state of the satellite and the data
transmission time.

Fig. 4 Software implementation flowchart Fig. 6 Data Visualization of temperature using DHT11

3. Results and Discussions

Temperature, humidity and soil moisture sensors are
connected to the ARM processor of the
Node MCU via a breadboard. These sensors take values
from the environment and send
it to the web server via internet for further processing. The
full circuit integration
showing connections of all the components for the
monitoring and irrigation automation is
shown in Figure 5.

Fig.7 Data Visualization of relative humidity and soil

m0isture using DHT11 and YL-69 sensors
With all the effects being considered, it can be concluded
that adequate monitoring of these
parameters is very paramount for optimum plant growth.

128
 IJISET - International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering & Technology, Vol. 6 Issue 3, March 2019
ISSN (Online) 2348 – 7968
www.ijiset.com
So as to make this a lesser task for the Southeast China", Biodiversiry Conserv., Vol. 22, 2013. pp.
farmers, hence the design of this system which helps in 531-544.
monitoring all these factors and update the [5] M. Rajkumar and H. Freitas. “Influence of metal resistant-
farmers on various happenings on the field and take plant growth promoting bacteria on the growth of Ricinus
communis in soil contaminated with heavy metals”,
necessary action when needed without any Chemosphere, Vol. 62, 2008, pp 741 - 748
human intervention. The records of these readings can be [6] J. Uddin, S. Muhammad, T. Reza, Q. Newaz and J. Kim.
viewed and visualized on the designed “Automated Irrigation System Using Solar Power”, in 7th P P

web page (Figure 6 and 7) and stored on the Thingspeak International Conference on Electrical and Computer
database for future reference and this can lead to precision Engineering, 2012, pp 228-231
agriculture [7] M. Ibrahim, I. S. Tyabo, U. S. Mohammed, I. S. Umar, and A.
Abdullahi. “Appropriateness and Reliability of Agricultural
Information Sources among arable crop farmers in Karu and
4. Conclusions Kokona Local Government areas of Nassarawa State
Nigeria”, Nigerian Journal of Agriculture, Food and
The system designed is capable of Environment, Vol. 12, No. 3, 2016, pp 114 - 118
[8] A. A. Whitmore.. "The Internet of Things—A survey of
monitoring, reading and storing data using sensors and topics And trends", Information Systems Frontiers, 2015, pp.
also generates some actions according to 261
the data. Storing data in database allow for future research
and also ensure that any abnormality Author Erastus Ogunti obtained the Bachelor of Science in Computer
in future can be studied and corrected helping to avoid Engineering in 2004 and a PhD in Electrical Engineering in 2008 from
the FAMU/FSU College of Engineering in Tallahassee, Florida in the
future discomfort. Web and mobile application with
United States. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department
a user friendly interface make the system easy to of Computer Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Akure,
understand without requiring any special skills. The Nigeria. He has published many journal papers in his field and his current
system takes research interest include microprocessor design, wireless sensor network,
antenna, microelectronics and artificial intelligence.
decision of automating the irrigation when the need arises
according to the instruction received, that
is, when the soil moisture falls below the brink without
any human intervention. This system is
cost effective which makes it affordable for farmers.
Due to non-availability of internet connection in some
remote farms, this work can
be reconfigure to incorporate GSM module for sending
SMS to farmers.
The intelligence or decision making component of the
system can also include some artificial intelligence
modules so that the farmer's interaction
with the system will be minimized this will lead to less
human efforts for the monitoring.

References
[1] E. O. Ogunti, F. K. Akingbade, S. Adebayo and O. Oladimeji.
“Decision Support System Using Mobile Applications in the
Provision of
Day to Day Information about Farm Status to Improve Crop
Yield”, Periodicals of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Vol.
6, No. 2 , 2018, pp. 89 - 99.
[2] F. Awuor, K. Kimeli, K. Rabah and D. Ramblin, "ICT
solution architecture for agriculture", in IEEE 1ST African
P P

Conference and Exhibition, 2013, pp. 524.

[3] J. Gutierrez,, J. F. Villa-Medina, A. Nieto-Garibay, and M.
ÁngelPortaGándara, “Automated Irrigation System Using a
Wireless Sensor Network and GPRS module”, in IEEE
Transactions On Instrumentation And Measurement, 2014
[4] H. Gao, Z. Ouyang, S. Chen, and CSA Koppen, "Role of
culturally protected forest in biodiversity conservation in

129