Journal of Advances in Communication Engineering and Its Innovations

Volume 4 Issue 2

Automatic Irrigation, Pesticide Sprinkling and Solar Operated

Tractor

Dr. Manjunath M*, Dr.Dinesh S**, Prof. G.venkatesha***

Brindavan College of Engineering, Dwarakanagar, Baglur Road, Bangalore 560063
Corresponding author’s email id: manjuec043@gmail.com*, hosise@brindavancollege.com**
hodece@brindavancollege.com ***
DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3274814

Abstract
India’s population is reached beyond 1.2 billion and the population rate
is increasing day by day then after 25-30 years there will be serious
problem of food, so the development of agriculture is necessary. Today,
the farmers are suffering from the lack of electricity, less rain and
improper management of pesticide. The main aim of this paper is to
provide an automatic agricultural system thereby saving time, money &
power of the farmer. With the automated technology of agriculture the
human intervention can be minimized. This paper mainly consists of
automatic irrigation, pesticide sprinkling and solar operated tractor. An
automatic irrigation system consists of sensor which senses the change
in temperature and humidity in the soil and gives an interrupt signal to
the ARDUINO controller which in turn sends a message to the user
through GSM technology. Pesticides are sprinkled according to the
requirement of the plants and this is operated based on solar power.
Tractors are also made to run using solar power.

Keywords: Automatic Irrigation; Sensor; Arduino; Solar Power; Pesticide

Sprinkler; GSM

INTRODUCTION also an environmental friendly form of

Solar energy is the most abundant source Energy. Photovoltaic generation is an
of energy on the world. Solar power is not efficient approach for using the solar
only an answer to today’s energy crisis but energy. Solar panel(an array of

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 Journal of Advances in Communication Engineering and Its Innovations
Volume 4 Issue 2

photovoltaic cells) are now a day’s accordingly switches the pump motor on
extensively used for running street lights, or off. Soil moisture sensor is used to find
for powering water heaters and to meet the soil condition weather the soil is wet or
domestic loads. The cost of solar panels dry. If soil is dry the pump motor will
has been constantly decreasing which pump the water till the field is wet which
encourages its usage in various sectors. is continuously monitored by the
One of the applications of this technology ARDUINO controller. The main
is used in agricultural system. Solar advantage of soil moisture sensor is to
powered agricultural system can be a ensure accurate measurements and farmers
suitable alternative for farmers in the doesn’t have to visit his farm to operate
present state of energy crisis in India. This the pump. At the same time, using GSM
green way of energy production which technique ARDUINO controller sends a
provides free energy once an initial message on farmers mobile regarding the
investment is made. status of the pumps and farmer can also
control the water pump by sending a
In this paper we propose an automatic message to the ARDUINO from his place.
irrigation system, pesticide dispensing
system and solar powered tractor. Pesticides dispensing systems have
become technology driven due to human
The most important factor for the hazards involved in spraying toxic
agriculture is timely and ample supply of chemicals. So, conventional pesticide
water. But due to uncertain rainfall and dispensing system are operated using solar
water scarcity in land reservoirs, we are power in this project.
not able to make proper use of agricultural
resources. Also unplanned used of water In agricultural field spraying is one of the
results into the wasting of water on large essential task as affects the growth of the
proportion. We can optimize the use of crops. In India there are three types of
water by adopting sensor base irrigation pesticide sprayers are used in agricultural
system. Soil moisture sensor base field.
irrigation system ensures proper moisture
level in the soil for growing plants in all 1. Manually operated spray pumps: These
season. In this system, sensor is sensing are normally operated by the person.
the moisture content of soil and No any type of energy source is

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 Journal of Advances in Communication Engineering and Its Innovations
Volume 4 Issue 2

required. It causes the fatigue in an electric one, with the tractor’s battery
operating person and can’t be used for recharged by photovoltaic panels. A
longer time. tractor with an electric motor and battery
system that replaces the engine and gas
2. Fuel operated spray pumps: This pump tank.
uses fossil fuels for operation. So cost
of operation is high and pumps emitted LITERATURE SURVEY
pollutant gases in environment. In GSM Based Automated Irrigation
Control using Rain gun Irrigation
3. Electrical spray pumps: Electrical System.R.suresh, S.Gopinath,
pumps use the electricity for charging K.Govindaraju, T.Devika,
the battery which drives the pump. It N.SuthanthiraVanitha [1] mentioned about
can’t be used in some of rural areas using automatic microcontroller based rain
due to insufficient supply of electricity. gun irrigation system in which the
irrigation will take place only when there
In India solar energy is available around 8 will be intense requirement of waterthat
months in year. So it can be used in save a large quantity of water. This
spraying operation. Solar pesticide sprayer application makes use of the GPRS feature
can give less tariff or price in effective of mobile phone as a solution for irrigation
spraying. Solar energy is absorbed by the control system. These system covered
solar panel, which contain photovoltaic lower range of agriculture land and not
cells. The conversion of the solar energy economically affordable. The System
into electrical energy is done by these Supports excess Amount of water in the
cells. This converted energy utilizes to land and uses GSM to send message and
store the voltage in the DC battery and that an android app is been used they have used
battery further used for the driving the a methodology to overcome under
spray pump. irrigation, over irrigation that causes
leaching and loss of nutrient content of soil
Solar operated tractors uses solar energy to they have also promised that
drive the tractor to reduce the dependency Microcontroller used can increase System
on no-renewable energy sources. The Life and lower the power Consumption.
focus of this project is the conversion of There system is just limited to the
gasoline powered cultivating tractor into

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 Journal of Advances in Communication Engineering and Its Innovations
Volume 4 Issue 2

automation of irrigation system and lacks NandiniPatil, and Nikita. M, Shruti. J,

in extra ordinary features. Smitha. P & Swati. C [3]
Automated irrigation system uses valves to
In GSM based Automatic Irrigation turn motor ON and OFF. These valves
Control System for Efficient Use of may be easily automated by using
Resources and Crop Planning sby Using controllers. Automating farm or nursery
an Android Mobile Pavithra D. S, M. S irrigation allows farmers to apply the right
.Srinath.[2] States features of their system. amount of water at the right time,
regardless of the availability of labor to
 The system supports water turn valves on and off. In addition, farmers
management decision, used for using automation equipment are able to
monitoring the whole system with reduce runoff from over watering saturated
GSM(RS-232) module soils, avoid irrigating at the wrong time of
day, which will improve crop performance
 The system continuously monitors the by ensuring adequate water and nutrients
water level in the tank and provide when needed. Those valves may be easily
accurate amount of water required to automated by using controllers.
the plant or tree (crop). Automating farm or nursery irrigation
allows farmers to apply the right amount
 The system checks the temperature, of water at the right time, regardless of the
and humidity of soil to retain the availability of labor to turn valves on and
nutrient composition of the soil off. They lack in a featured mobile
managed for proper growth of plant. application developed for users with
appropriate user interface. It only allows

 Low cost and effective with less power the user to monitor and maintain the

consumption using sensors for remote moisture level remotely irrespective of

monitoring and controlling devices time. From the point of view of working at

which are controlled via SMS using a remote place the developed

GSM using android mobile. microcontroller based irrigation system

can work constantly for indefinite time

In Irrigation Control System Using period, even in certain abnormal

Android and GSM for Efficient Use of circumstances. If the plants get water at

Water and Power – Laxmi Shabadi,

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 Journal of Advances in Communication Engineering and Its Innovations
Volume 4 Issue 2

the proper time then it helps to increase the zinc) to the field with adding new sensors
production from 25to 30 % [5] and valve.

A wireless application of drip irrigation Solar Powered Smart Irrigation System,

automation supported by soil moisture Advance in Electronic and Electric
sensors [8] Engineering. [9]
Irrigation by help of freshwater resources  Cost effective solar power can be the
in agricultural areas has a crucial answer for all our energy needs.
importance. Traditional instrumentation
based on discrete and wired solutions,  Conserves electricity by reducing the
presents many difficulties on measuring usage of grid power and conserves
and control systems especially over the water by reducing water losses.
large geographical areas. If different kinds
of sensors (that is, temperature, humidity, Advantages: Discourage weeds, saves
and etc.) are involved in such irrigation in water and time, statistical data can be used
future works, it can be said that an internet to control diseases and fungal growth,
based remote control of irrigation simplest model.
automation will be possible. The
developed system can also transfer Disadvantages: This system is just limited
fertilizer and the other agricultural to the automation of irrigation system and
chemicals (calcium, sodium, ammonium, lacks in extra ordinary features

BLOCK DIAGRAM

Fig IIIa Block Diagram of Proposed System

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 Journal of Advances in Communication Engineering and Its Innovations
WORKING PRINCIPLE
As shown in Fig III a Automatic Plant
Irrigation System using ARDUINO
automatically provides water to plants and
keeps you updated by sending message to
your cell phone. In This Plant Watering
System, Soil Moisture Sensor checks the
moisture level in the soil and if moisture
level is low then ARDUINO switches on
the water pump to provide water to the
plant. Water pump gets automatically OFF
when system finds enough moisture in the
soil. Whenever system is switched on or
off, a message is sent to the user via GSM
module, updating the status of water pump
and soil moisture. This system is very
useful in Farms, gardens, home etc.
Main intension of our project is by using
solar energy to run the whole operation.
The solar panel generates 7.5v of voltage
that can be converted to 5v by using
regulator and the regulated voltage from
regulator which is not exact 5v it contains
some ac harmonic contents it can be
filtered by using capacitor filter circuit.
Solar energy stored in the battery (1.58Ah
back up) directly connected to pump,
relay, LCD and ARDUINO. Those All the
apparatus are internally connected to the
ARDUINO UNO controller. It controls the
whole operation of our project.
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Volume 4 Issue 2
All the conditions of the land displayed in
LCD display and the same message send
to former or owner by using GSM system.
It also displays the solenoid valve
operating conditions & SMS received by
the former. When the crop land becomes
dry automatically pump & solenoid valves
are turned on and supplies the water to the
land. When the crop land is in wet
condition the both pump & solenoid valves
are turned OFF for further necessary of the
water to the land we can turn ON the pump
by sending the SMS to GSM modem
which contains customer SIM card.
The moisture sensor is used to sense the
water content (level) of the land. By using
relay the microcontroller will sends the
signals to the relay to make opening
&closing of pump close & open the pump,
depend upon the information from
moisture sensor. The GSM shows blinking
in three second means network is present
in inserted SIM. If it shows blinking in one
second means network is not present in
inserted SIM. The pump is completely
immersed in the water tank or bore well
for proper operation.
In this Plant Irrigation System, Soil
Moisture Sensor Probes are used to sense
the soil moisture level. ARDUINO is used
for controlling the whole process of this
 Journal of Advances in Communication Engineering and Its Innovations
Automatic Plant Watering System. Solar
operated tractors uses solar energy to drive
the tractor to reduce the dependency on
no-renewable energy sources. The focus of
this project is the conversion of gasoline
powered cultivating tractor into an electric
one, with the tractor’s battery recharged by
photovoltaic panels. A tractor with an
electric motor and battery system which
replaces the engine and gas tank.
HARDWARE USED
1. Arduino UNO
2. Solar Panel
3. Soil Moisture Sensor
4. GSM Module
5. LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
6. Battery
7. DC Motor
8. Relay
Arduino UNO
It is an open source electronics platform
based on an easy to use hardware and
software and Arduino board are able to
read inputs-light on a sensor ,finger on a
button or a twitter message and turn it into
an output-activating a motor, turning on an
LED, publishing something online . We
can tell our board what to do by sending a
set of instructions to the microcontroller
on the board. To do so we use the
ARDUINO programming language (based
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Volume 4 Issue 2
on wiring), and the software (IDE), based
on processing.
The Arduino Uno is a microcontroller
board based on the ATmega328. It has 14
digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be
used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a
16 MHz ceramic resonator, a USB
connection, a power jack, an ICSP header,
and a reset button. It contains everything
needed to support the microcontroller;
simply connect it to a computer with a
USB cable or power it with a AC-to-DC
adapter or battery to get started.
Solar Panel
A solar panel is a collection of solar cells
which are electrically connected and
mounted together. Each solar cell provides
a relatively small amount of power. Many
solar cells spread over a large area can
provide a enough power to be useful. To
get the most power, solar panels has to be
pointed directly at the sun. Solar panel
needs surface area, more exposure means
more electricity can be converted from
light energy.
Solar energy absorbed by solar panel or in
other word photovoltaic (PV) cell. Photo,
means light, and voltaic, meaning
electricity. Photovoltaic system use silicon
cells to convert solar radiation into
 Journal of Advances in Communication Engineering and Its Innovations
electricity. Each photovoltaic cell is made
from one or two layers of semi-conducting
material, usually silicon. Basically when
the light strikes the cell, a certain portion
of it absorbed by semiconductor – energy
transferred to semiconductor. Energy
knocks the electron, allowing them to
move freely. PV also has electric field that
only allow electron move in certain
direction. This flow of electrons we called
current.
We can use basically three types of solar
panel.
1. Mono-crystalline Solar Panel
2. Polycrystalline Solar Panel
3. Thin-Film Solar Panel
Soil Moisture Sensor
It measures the volumetric
water content in soil. Since the direct
gravimetric measurement of free soil
moisture requires removing, drying, and
weighting of a sample, soil moisture
sensors measure the volumetric water
content indirectly by using some other
property of the soil, such as electrical
resistance, dielectric constant,
interaction with neutrons, as a proxy for
the moisture content. The relation between
the measured property and soil moisture
must be calibrated and may vary
depending on environmental factors such
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Volume 4 Issue 2
as soil type, temperature, or electric
conductivity.
Reflected microwave radiation is affected
by the soil moisture and is used for remote
sensing in hydrology and agriculture.
Portable probe instruments can be used by
farmers or gardeners.
SOFTWARE USED
Arduino IDE
The Arduino Integrated Development
Environment – or Arduino software (IDE)
– contains a text editor for writing code, a
message area, a text console, a toolbar
with buttons for common functions and a
series of menus. It connects to the Arduino
and Genuino hardware to upload programs
and communicate with them. Programs
written using Arduino Software (IDE) are
called sketches. These sketches are written
in the text editor and are saved with the
file extension .ino. The editor has features
for cutting/pasting and for
searching/replacing text. The message area
gives feedback while saving and exporting
and also displays errors. The console
or displays text output by the Arduino
software (IDE), including complete error
messages and other information. The
bottom right hand corner of the window
displays the configured board and serial
port. The tool bar buttons allow you to
 Journal of Advances in Communication Engineering and Its Innovations
verify and upload programs, create, open,
and save sketches, and open the serial
monitor.
APPLICATIONS
By implementing proposed system, there
are various benefits to both government as
well as farmers. For the government
solution to energy crisis and water
shortage is proposed.
Main application of the proposed system is
for irrigation of agriculture fields. Even we
can apply this system in agriculture
research stations, greenhouses where high
precision soil moisture control is required.
Use of solar energy in the proposed system
allows us to use this system in remote
areas where electricity is not available.
This system can also used to spray
pesticides in farm lands. The tractors can
be run using solar power.
ADVANTAGES and ISSUE
Advantages
 Sensors used have high sensitivity and
are easy to handle.
 Low cost system, providing maximum
automation.
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Volume 4 Issue 2
 Closed loop design prevent any
chances of disturbing the green house
environment.
 User is indicated for change in actuator
state thereby giving an option for
manual override.
 Low maintenance and low power
consumption.
 The system is more compact compared
to the existing ones, hence is easily
portable.
 Can be used for different plant species
by making minor changes in the
ambient environment parameters.
 Can be easily modified for improving
the setup and adding new features.
 Safety, user friendly and eco-friendly.
Issues
One of the issues in the system is that the
Power generation is completely dependent
on the amount of sunlight that falls on the
Solar Panel, and initial cost of this
arrangement is high.
 Journal of Advances in Communication Engineering and Its Innovations
Volume 4 Issue 2

CONCLUSION requirement, it can be a better option for

In this paper, a solar powered automated the convention sprayer and for the battery
agricultural model is proposed. We operated tractors. As India is the
designed this model considering low cost, developing country, this proposed model
reliability, eco friendly, alternate source of can be become more popular in rural areas.
electric power and automatic control. As
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 Journal of Advances in Communication Engineering and Its Innovations
Volume 4 Issue 2

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http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3274814

VIII. Yalla, S.P, Energy Management in

an Automated Solar Powered
Irrigation System, Information

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 Journal of Advances in Communication Engineering and Its Innovations
Volume 4 Issue 2

AUTHORS’ PROFILE

[1] Dr. Manjunath M, Assistant Professor

Department: Electronics & Communication Engineering
College: Brindavan College of Engineering, Dwarakanagar, Baglur Road, Bangalore
Email id: manjuec043@gmail.com

[2] Dr. Dinesh S, Associate professor and HOD

Department: Information Science& Engineering
College: Brindavan College of Engineering, Dwarakanagar, Baglur Road, Bangalore
Email id: hosise@brindavancollege.com

[3] Prof. G.venkatesha, Professor and HOD

Department: Electronics & Communication Engineering
College: Brindavan College of Engineering, Dwarakanagar, Baglur Road, Bangalore
Email id: hodece@brindavancollege.com

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