IoT for Agriculture Project

Internet-of-Things (IoT) technologies have been massively researched and developed as the Internet has played an important role in our daily lives. We got a project funding from the Australian Alumni Grant Scheme (AGS) which was administered by the Australia Awards in Indonesia (AAI). In this project, we implemented IoT technology as the solution for the agricultural problems in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.

Background

It has been stated that 30% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of East Nusa Tenggara come from agriculture and fisheries sectors. In addition, several commodities of East Nusa Tenggara have huge market potential. However, some problems such as weather changes, droughts, lack of water supplies, pests, etc can cause crop failures.

Solution

It would be beneficial for the farmers if they could acquire some data about the soil on their farmlands (soil moisture, ground water level, soil pH etc), weather conditions, etc. The data can be used as early warning and for research purposes. Internet-of-Things (IoT) is the right solution to provide above-mentioned real-time data. Some related sensors, e.g. weather sensors, soil moisture sensors, particle sensors, and water pumps are installed in the farmlands. The sensors send the acquired data to the cloud (internet) regularly and the data can be accessed through the electronic devices (laptops, mobile phones). Furthermore, an automatic irrigation solution may be implemented. The water pumps can be automatically turned on and off according to the threshold through an actuator. Alternatively, the water pumps can be remotely turned on and off through the electronic devices.

Advantages

This project has at least two direct and indirect advantages:

1. The farmers can make decision on what to do before going to the farmlands. For example, when they notice that the soil moisture is low, they can activate the irrigation system.

2. The data can be used for agricultural research activities.

Locations

The sensors were installed in the four different locations:

1. Noelbaki village

2. Tilong

3. Oematnunu

4. Oepoi

Documentation

Sensors installed in Noelbaki village

IoT workshop in Noelbaki Village