Performance of agro-environmental monitoring for optimum water and crop management: A case study for East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Abstract

Due to advancements in Information Technology (IT) infrastructure in Indonesia, including in remote areas, IT field monitoring is possibly used in the agriculture sector to make effective and efficient water and crop management. This study evaluates the performance of agro-environmental monitoring (AEM) in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province, Indonesia. The developed technology consisting of environmental parameter sensors and telemetry adopted the Internet of Things (IoT) concept. It consisted of three main parts, i.e., FieldRouter (FR) or ZL6, data logger, and the sensors. Some environmental parameter sensors were used such as solar radiation, air temperature, precipitation, and soil moisture sensors. The system was evaluated based on one planting season experiment in two different fields. In the field, there were two irrigation treatments, i.e., intermittent (II) with the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and flooded irrigations (FL). As a result, the developed AEM system showed good performance and reliability as indicated by well data collection and management from the fields. The real field situation was well monitored in terms of numerical and graphical as well as image data. We found that intermittent irrigation is more efficient in water used. It can be saved 12% water used compared to flooded irrigation.