Concept to design a hand-held crop management device (CMD) for farmers

Abstract

In this publication, the authors present the concept to design a hand-held device for crop management (CMD). The proposed design is of a device capable of providing guidance to farmers with respect to irrigation, fertilization, scheduling of crop management and pest control. CMD incorporates modifications/additions in a low cost mobile phone converting it into a dedicated agriculture support solution. The device takes as input, data regarding the type of soil, annual rainfall, atmospheric humidity, temperature, wind velocity, and daylight period from the Internet. User provides information regarding agricultural techniques practiced directly by him. Soil temperature sensor, pH sensor, and soil water content sensors would be provided in the CMD. The device is appended with a rule based decision making algorithm which would generate statements suggesting measures for improved crop management.