Automation soil nutrient detection system and fertilizer recommendation for the Tea industry.

Abstract

We have designed a soil nutrient sensor that detects and quantifies the amount of Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorous in the soil sample. After soil testing has been done in the laboratory with the help of chemical reagents, various colour solutions are formed depending on the concentrations of the soil nutrients and observed with the human eye. This is prone to many errors as some colours cannot easily be distinguished by the human eye.

We, therefore, believe that our system which is able to clearly distinguish these colour changes and quantify them is a much better alternative and will significantly reduce the errors due to inaccurate readings. Depending on the concentration of these nutrients, our system will then be able to recommend the right amount of fertilizer to be added to the soil.

Our project design is developed into two subsystems: development of a sensor system for estimation of nutrients present in the soil and development of a fertilizer recommendation system. The main component in our sensor system is the colour sensor. Colour sensor detects colors basing on the combination of three basic color components namely Red, Green and Blue and then sends the value of the color detected to a microcontroller in the form of an electrical signal. These colours that the sensor detects depend on the amount of NPK in the soil sample. The results from the colour sensor will then be used as a basis for making recommendations about the right amount of fertilizer to be added.