Abstract:
Watering the plant is the most important cultural practice and one of the
labour-intensive tasks in daily greenhouse operation. Watering systems ease the
burden of getting water to plants when they need it. Knowing when and how much to
water is two important aspects of irrigation process. The introduction of ―Automation
in drip irrigation‖ can bring a green revolution in greenhouse. With advancing
technology growth in the agriculture sector, the internet-of-things (IOT) technology
provides a solution much simpler and faster for drip irrigation. The use of wireless
sensor networks, IoTs, and communication technology for the automation of irrigation
is an entirely new and futuristic field of research for development. It eliminates the
manual opening and closing of valves. It starts and stops pump exactly as and when
required thus optimizing the energy requirement. Irrigation system can be started at
any desired time. Automating the data acquisition process of the soil conditions and
various climatic parameters that govern plant growth allows information to be
collected with less labour requirements.
The study entitled ―An IoT based Drip Irrigation system for Vertical farming
structure in Rain shelter‖ was taken up to develop an automated system for naturally
ventilated Rain shelter situated in PFDC, located in the instructional farm of KCAET.
The study was carried out using Amaranthus during the month of February to May,
2023 in two phases, one with conventional type of irrigation and other with
automation in drip irrigation. It was found that the automation system installed was
successful in minimal use of water to effective root zone which increases plant quality
as well as productivity.
