Irrigation control and image acquisition for rice cultivation in UAE desert soil

Abstract

Abstract Precision water management and crop growth monitoring are essential where water is a scarce, especially in desert soils. The purpose of the study was to control the irrigation and real-time image acquisition for monitoring the rice cultivation inside the net house under the UAE desert soil. An automated data acquisition system was constructed, installed, and tested in the experimental site at Al-Foah, Al-Ain. Soil water content sensors were placed in the different depths of desert soils, and an automatic irrigation logic was implemented to maintain the average of 30% desired water content level in desert soils. The irrigation rate was controlled based on the sensor data and the on/off of the pump and valves. When the average soil water content percentage level exceeds 30%, the pump and solenoid valve automatically turned off and vice versa. A Raspberry Pi operating system was used to control the irrigation, and a Raspberry Pi camera system was used to capture the real-time images for monitoring the rice growth and development. A web server was developed to upload and display the sensor values and images using python programing language through the embedded Wi-Fi network service. The web-based monitoring system was allowed to monitor the rice field situation from anywhere and download data from the site. The existing irrigation technique would help to grow the rice in UAE desert soil environments.