Design and Development of IoT based Hydroponic Farming Setup for Production of Green Fodder

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Muralimohan G, Arjun S V, Sakthivel G

Abstract

 


Hydroponics is a modern farming technique proposed as an alternative to traditional farming. Hydroponics agriculture is a soilless cultivation method where the plant is grown with the help of nutrients and water alone and hence it provides a solution to the growing scarcity of agricultural land. In this paper, a hydroponics farming setup is designed and developed specifically for the cultivation of green fodder required for livestock rearing. Commercially available hydroponic based fodder cultivation setups use a timer-based water spraying system for maintaining the moisture required for the growth of the plants and it does not account for external environmental conditions. In the proposed setup the changes in the weather and environmental conditions would be considered and accordingly the moisture retention required for the fodder cultivation would be maintained. Further, the proposed setup can monitor the pH, turbidity levels and it also has autonomous light intensity adjustment and water holding systems that maintain the proper mixing ratio of nutrients in the water tank. The developed setup also has an inbuilt Internet of things (IoT) feature that provides the capability to monitor the system remotely through a mobile application. A custom mobile application is also developed specifically for the proposed setup which helps in continuous monitoring of the system. Thus the proposed hydroponic setup requires minimal manual labour except for sowing and harvesting and it helps in ensuring proper moisture content based on the environmental conditions and hence efficient plant growth also through continuous monitoring and supply of nutrients based on the crop’s growth.


 

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