Integrated Smart Farming Based on Internet of Things (Iot) System for Figs Cultivation

Abstract

Fig plants are gaining popularity among farmers across Malaysia, mainly influenced by the high demands for fresh fig fruits and a fairly higher market price for the fruit. Current practices in farm fields are still based on observation and scheduling approach without any quantitative approaches which provide a precise way of determining the crucial elements such as irrigation and fertilization needs. This paper explains the design and development of smart farming system with sensing technology deployment for precision agriculture and the Internet of Things (IoT) approach to get farmers connected to their farm. Raspberry Pi 3 Model B acts as a brain of the entire system, delivering its functionality in performing monitoring and controlling tasks. Database is implemented by using ThingSpeak IoT cloud platform while for mobile application, this project is using Swift 4 programming language within Xcode IDE in implementing the iOS user interface features. The evaluation and validation result shows the microcontrollers and all embedded sensors associated to them are successfully executing their tasks in performing the surrounding humidity, irrigation and fertilization control duties. The developed system also capable in tracing the surrounding temperature and humidity, soil humidity and pH, and fertilizer EC value changes. Assistance in mobile device application implementation and ThingSpeak cloud database deployment in this project also get the farmers connected to their farm. Although this project has been completed successfully, however there are several areas which can be further improved in order to make the entire system more efficient and useful to the user.