Application of Low-Cost Sensors to Support Decision Making in Precision Irrigation

• Otto Álan P. De Sousa UFC / Instituto Atlântico
• Claúdio José Reis de Carvalho Embrapa
• Guilherme Alves UFC
• Atslands R. da Rocha UFC

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/wcama.2024.2462

Abstract

Water is a crucial resource in agriculture, significantly influencing the health and yield of plants. Plant water stress can occur due to insufficient water in the soil, unfavorable climatic conditions, or inadequate agricultural practices such as insufficient irrigation. Generally, the detection techniques of water stress are expensive and difficult to implement for small and medium-sized farmers. This work proposes a low-cost system to detect plant water stress, using leaf temperature as an indicator. Validation was conducted in an experimental maize field, demonstrating the developed system’s effectiveness and highlighting the collected data’s potential to enhance precision irrigation techniques.

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