Development and Performance Evaluation of a Low-Cost Sensor-Based Automated Drip Irrigation System for Small-Scale Farming

Small-scale farmers operating in water-scarce areas are frequently deprived of access to affordable and dependable irrigation scheduling technologies. To overcome this obstacle, a sensor-based automated drip irrigation system employing inexpensive components was developed and tested for small-scale farming purposes. The system features a microcontroller connected to in-house-developed NE555- based soil moisture and water-level sensors to enable irrigation as per the preset soil moisture limits without the need for internet connectivity. The system was evaluated in a laboratory setting using clay, sandy, loam, and sandy soils that were compacted in PVC columns and irrigated through drip emitters. Volumetric soil moisture content, irrigation duration, and water application volumes were recorded and compared with those from a commercial reference sensor (MPM160). The results revealed that the newly developed system and the reference sensor were in strong agreement in clay soils, with no significant differences at irrigation start or termination. The performance in sandy loam soil was good at irrigation termination, but there was unreliability at low-moisture levels, and there were significant differences in sandy soils due to the limitations of compaction and probe-soil contact. The irrigation durations were 18.9, 25.8, and 19.4 minutes on average, and the corresponding water volumes were 1280, 1073, and 896 mL for clay, sandy loam, and sandy soils, respectively. In general, the system was capable of performing tasks reliably in fine-textured soils and is an inexpensive sensor-based technology that can be used to help the water sector.