Crop wise: Wireless crop monitoring and management system utilizing zigbee wireless technology

• Main Authors: Chug, Bryan Carl R., De Mesa, Lean Kenneth G., Filomeno, Kim Carl A., Lee, Vhalerie Lorraine L., Poblete, Dino Antonio D.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2009
• Subjects: Agricultural systems > Philippines; Irrigation > Philippines; Irrigation > Philippines > Automation; Irrigation water > Philippines > Management; Water-supply, Agricultural > Philippines; Water-supply engineering > Philippines > Automation; Agricultural machinery operators
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/14476
• Institution: De La Salle University

The Philippines experiencing food shortages as a result of decline in the agriculture industry showed a lack of productivity, primarily due to dysfunctional irrigation systems. Farmers in the province practicing furrow irrigation four to five times a day costing P 20,000 waste water resources. By means of a real time monitoring system, agricultural crops can be closely monitored and frequently maintained. Introduction of fertilizers, regular watering of crops and application of pesticides may be executed in a regular farm to ensure maximum crop yield. This thesis aims to create a monitoring and management system that allows farm personnel to easily observe the crops and maintain the farm itself. It is implemented through wireless sensor network technology, which allows the system to utilize a wireless network of sensor pods, each representing a specific section of the field and has the capability to gather sensor data. The communication of the sensor pods with the network is implemented using ZigBee wireless technology, which provides a network with self-configuration and self-healing capabilities. Gathering correct and reliable information is essential in order to take proper control measures. The thesis also provides the capability to execute necessary actions based on the information obtained from the monitoring system. This thesis aims to allow farm personnel to be able to easily water the crops or to deliver liquid fertilizer and pesticide. This is implemented using control pods which are also connected to the wireless network. These control pods can be triggered to open or close valves connected to pipes which can deliver water or liquid fertilizer to a specific section of the field. A computer connected to the base station of the network located indoors allows farm personnel to easily monitor and manage the crops. A program with a graphical user interface which uses a simple map to represent the field and the location of each pod will be the main interface where farm personnel may access the system. Aside from being able to manually monitor and control the pods, the system also has a capability to automatically perform tasks scheduled by the farm personnel.