“Design of capacitive sensor for monitoring moisture content of soil and analysis of analog voltage with variability in moisture”

An important parameter in today's world is food security as environmental degradation is a big threat. The need of the hour is proper utilization of resources. In developing countries where cultivation of land and crop production is a major source of income it becomes mandatory to manage the land in a beneficial manner. Moisture content in soil is optimal for plant growth. All the water held in the soil is not available to plants. Much of the water is available in the soil as a thin film which serves as a medium for supply of nutrients to growing plants. The paper describes design of a capacitance based soil moisture sensor which helps in finding moisture content of soil also depicting the variations in analog voltage with the change in moisture content. This low cost portable instrument can find many applications like drip irrigation and measuring moisture content of pulses, grains and wheat. India being an agricultural country where many people's livelihood depends on agricultural output it can provide to be highly beneficial.