Essentials, Challenges, and Future Directions of Agricultural IoT

Agriculture plays a major role in the socio-economic structure of India. A recent report claimed that population of India is increasing faster than its capability to produce rice, wheat, and vegetables. The challenges in the area of agriculture are farming, watering, weather forecasting, marketing, and transportation. These challenges are to be addressed towards proper solution. If the infrastructure and productivity of the food increases, then India can easily feed its population as well as improve the exports of wheat and rice around the world. Internet of things (IoT) is an emerging technical area of agriculture domain. The advantage of IoT is to implement a smart agriculture management system with the help of analyzing the weather conditions of the field in order to optimize the usage of water, energy, fertilizers so as to maximize the crop yield. The objective of this study is to explore the possible contributions of IoT in Indian agriculture towards the improvements in irrigation infrastructure, agricultural productivity, food security, and rural job opportunities.

Development of a Low-Cost Optical Sensor to Detect Eutrophication in Irrigation Reservoirs

In irrigation ponds, the excess of nutrients can cause eutrophication, a massive growth of microscopic algae. It might cause different problems in the irrigation infrastructure and should be monitored. In this paper, we present a low-cost sensor based on optical absorption in order to determine the concentration of algae in irrigation ponds. The sensor is composed of 5 LEDs with different wavelengths and light-dependent resistances as photoreceptors. Data are gathered for the calibration of the prototype, including two turbidity sources, sediment and algae, including pure samples and mixed samples. Samples were measured at a different concentration from 15 mg/L to 4000 mg/L. Multiple regression models and artificial neural networks, with a training and validation phase, are compared as two alternative methods to classify the tested samples. Our results indicate that using multiple regression models, it is possible to estimate the concentration of alga with an average absolute error of 32.0 mg/L and an average relative error of 11.0%. On the other hand, it is possible to classify up to 100% of the samples in the validation phase with the artificial neural network. Thus, a novel prototype capable of distinguishing turbidity sources and two classification methodologies, which can be adapted to different node features, are proposed for the operation of the developed prototype.

Design and analysis of a hydro-powered water turbine pump: a sustainable irrigation infrastructure

The agriculture sector of Nepal has been plagued by problems of poor irrigation networks and infrastructure. This has forced farmers to use fuel and electricity-based pumps, which are both expensive and unsustainable. The problems related to the distribution of power and fluctuating voltages add to the ineffectiveness of the electrical pumping system. So, as a better alternative for environment-friendly and inexpensive irrigation infrastructure, this paper proposes a design methodology of a community-operated hydro-powered pump called water turbine pump (WTP). Although introduced in the 1920s, this technology has been largely ignored nowadays. Moreover, there are insufficient literature and technical documentation to support the design decisions for developers. With an objective to induce momentum in the research and development of this technology, this work presents a well-defined methodology to design a WTP using a propeller turbine directly coupled with a centrifugal pump, in reference to a site located in Bardiya, Nepal. The WTP designed using this methodology could utilize a head of 3 m and a flow rate of 150 lps to deliver 14 lps of water to a height of 14.9 m, yielding a head ratio of 1:5, with an overall efficiency of 50.5%.

Mapping Center Pivot Irrigation Fields in South Carolina with Google Earth Engine and the National Agricultural Imagery Program

Aerial images taken during the growing seasons of 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017 were visually inspected for evidence of irrigation. Center pivot irrigation was identified by the characteristic shape of the spans and the curved tracks left by the wheels. The author manually delineated a polygon over each agricultural area where signs of irrigation infrastructure were observed. The result is a map of 2,689 polygons covering 146,662 acres in South Carolina. Compared with the United States Department of Agriculture 2017 Census of Agriculture, the sampling results account for over 69% of total irrigated area and over 98% of area irrigated solely by center pivots. Most center pivots covered from 25 to 75 acres, while the largest center pivot extended over 300 acres. These results are an important contribution to the quantification of water use in South Carolina.

Implementation of Sustainable Food Agricultural Land Protection Policy in Sukabumi City, West Java, Indonesia

The population increase and regional development are causes of decreasing agricultural land. For supporting agricultural land protection, Sukabumi City issued a Regional Regulation Number 1 of 2016 concerning Sustainable Food Agricultural Land Protection Policy in Sukabumi City (LP2B) which determines 321 ha land as eternal agricultural land. This study examines a level LP2B policy implementation in Sukabumi City. Factors that will be considered: the level of land readiness as LP2B, the level of an implementation incentive program, the level of response and availability of farmers, and the level of infrastructure and information systems readiness. The analytical method used is a descriptive method through collecting data by interviewed farmers, government and reviewing documents related to LP2B policies. The results of the study show that for land readiness, in early 2021 Sukabumi city is ready for about 10.024% % from total planned land. For the implementation of LP2B incentive program, the majority of farmers has not experienced the incentive program. For the farmer’s response and availability, the majority of farmers does not know about LP2B policy, 80% of owner farmers are ready to provide their land into LP2B with some conditions. The availability of irrigation infrastructure in Sukabumi City is very good, where more than 75% of respondents rice fields has an irrigation system. Related to LP2B information system, Sukabumi City has issued a Mayor Regulation Number 8 of 2018 concerning LP2B Information System in Sukabumi City, but this system has not been optimal in providing basic information that is required to exist in a LP2B information system.

Public Infrastructure and Economic Growth in the Local Region

This study aims to analyze the effect of public infrastructure on economic growth in Lampung Province. The data used are time series and cross sections for the period 2012-2018 and 14 districts/cities. The method applied is the panel data model with the random effect model method. The results showed that Infrastructure, Irrigation Infrastructure, Health Infrastructure, Investment, Labor, and Gini Growth had a significant and positive effect on economic growth, while capital expenditures insignificant effect on economic growth. The implications of these findings indicate that public sector investments such as road infrastructure, bridges and other infrastructure facilities are important.

The Impact of Infrastructure Spending on Economic Growth: A Case Study of Indonesia

This paper aims to analyze the impact of infrastructure spending on economic growth in Indonesia, which includes investment in road, port and irrigation infrastructure. The period of observation was 2011-2018, which covered 29 provinces with consideration of data availability. This study employed the growth model with a panel data analysis, which analyze the relationship between the economic growth and government investment in infrastructure in the long run. The most essential finding in this study is that the economic growth is positively influenced by government investment in road, port and irrigation infrastructure. Road infrastructure investment has a significant positive impact and the effect occurs in the fourth year after infrastructure development. In comparison, port and irrigation infrastructure investment have a positive but not significant impact to other variables.

A multiplicity of prek(s): Enacting a socionatural mosaic in the Cambodian upper Mekong delta

In Khmer, the word prek designates a connection between things. In Kandal province in Cambodia, preks crisscross the landscape, connecting rivers with floodplains, supporting rich ecologies and a variety of livelihoods. Drawing on science and technology studies (STS) and critical water research, this paper explores prek(s) as a multiplicity. Rather than taking the prek as a passive object around which various practices occur, we examine how prek(s) are enacted as ontologically different: as irrigation infrastructure, as pathway to rice intensification, as device for Cambodian state-making, and as climate-friendly agricultural development. After analyzing interference patterns between enactments and their scale-making effects in- and outside the Mekong floodplains, we make explicit our own ontological politics. Focused on sustaining multiple uses and ecosystems, “our” prek is a socionatural mosaic landscape where many human and more-than-human actors and practices can coexist. This ontological politics, we suggest, has implications for planetary environmental knowledges and delta management far beyond Kandal’s landscape.

Using GIS towards the Characterization and Soil Mapping of the Caia Irrigation Perimeter

The Caia Irrigation Perimeter is an irrigation infrastructure implemented in 1968. As is often the case, the original soil map of this region (dated from 1961) does not have the detail needed to characterize a relatively small-sized zone, where intensive agricultural practices take place. Using FAO methodology and with the main goal of establishing a larger-scale soil map, adequate for the demands of a modern and intensive agriculture, we gathered the geological characterization of the study area and information about the topography, climate, and vegetation of the region. Using ArcGIS software, we overlapped this information and established a pre-map of soil resources. Based on this pre-map, we defined a set of detailed itineraries in the field, evenly distributed, in which soil samples were collected. In those distinct soil units, we opened several soil profiles, from which we selected 26 to analyze in the present study, since they characterized the existing diversity in terms of soil type and soil properties. Based on the work of verification, correction, and reinterpretation of the preliminary soil map, we reached a final soil map for the Caia Irrigation Perimeter, which is characterized by enormous heterogeneity, typical of Mediterranean soils, containing 23 distinct cartographic units, the most representative being the Distric Fluvisols with inclusions of Luvisols Distric occupying 29.9% of the total study area, and Calcisols Luvic with inclusions of Luvisols endoleptic with 11.9% of the total area. Considering the obtained information on soil properties; ArcGIS was used to develop a map in which it was possible to ascertain the impact of the continuous practice of irrigation in this area. This allows us to put forward relevant conclusions on the need to access and monitor specific Mediterranean soils in order to mitigate the environmental impact of irrigation practices.