An Innovative Smart and Sustainable Low-cost Irrigation System for Smallholder Farmers' Communities

Abstract

The agricultural sector has several difficulties today in ensuring the safety of the food supply. However, the Internet of Things (IoT) has recently come to light as a promising remedy with several cutting-edge uses in smart farming. The study presents the design and development of a low-cost and full-featured fog-IoT/AI system. The system has been created using open-source platforms that monitor agro-field data in real-time. However, the smallholder community is hesitant to adopt technology-based solutions. The PRIMA INTEL-IRRIS project aims to make digital and smart agricultural technologies more appealing and available to these communities by advancing the idea of intelligent irrigation “in-the-box” This study explains a low-cost fog-IoT/AI system of version 1.0 fully targeted toward smallholder farmer communities (SFCs) and how it may provide the notion of intelligent irrigation “in-the-box” concept.