Smart Irrigation for Yellow Pepper Production using GPS and GSM Technologies

Background: Yellow pepper production is the major farming activities of women in Nsukka senatorial zone of Enugu state of Nigeria. The main sources of irrigation for this group of farmers are tanks and under-ground tanks that are artificially supplied with water in their different farms, since natural sources of water are not always available. These women mostly use their buckets or other containers to fetch water from tanks. They continually monitor the water level of their tanks in all their farms to know the best time to refill those tanks and also, they irrigate their crops manually. With the continuous demand of this variety of pepper, this current approach is quite challenging, not sustainable and highly labour intensive. Hence, there is an urgent need to boost production and address those challenges and difficulties associated with the current irrigation method through Internet of Things and other innovative techniques. The aim of this paper is to use a smart system to monitor and control soil moisture, temperature and water level in the tank. The paper equally aims at detecting the location of the farm where tank that is to be refilled is placed. Methods: Simulation and experimental methodology was employed in this research. The components of the proposed system include sensors, GSM, GPS, water pumps and microcontroller. Ultrasonic sensor monitors the water level in the tank, moisture and temperature sensors monitor the soil moisture and temperature, water pump sprinkles water on the crops, GPS provides the location of the tank, GSM sends message when the need arises while the microcontroller takes decision and coordinates the functioning of the entire system. Result: The research produced a system prototype that monitors and controls the usage of water on yellow pepper crops and refilling of water tank in the farm.