e-Crop Based Smart Farming (e-CBSF): How To Use For Better Yield

e-Crop-based Smart Fertigation Facility at the ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, focuses on the importance of providing farmers with smart services for enabling them to gain more yield than traditional framing methods.

e-Crop Based Smart Farming (e-CBSF)

The e-Crop Based Smart Farming (e-CBSF) is an Internet of Things (IoT) device that provides real-time crop-specific agro-advisory services to increase yield to the potential level under the given weather and soil conditions.

It was developed by Dr Santhosh Mithra, Principal Scientist, ICAR-CTCRI, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala in 2014. This device calculates the nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and water requirements of field crops with the aim of minimizing the yield gap.

e-Crop Based Smart Farming (e-CBSF): Advantages

It is highly advantageous than traditional farming because of the precise application of fertilizer and water via fertigation based on the climate and real-time plant growth.

e-Crop is the most suitable technology to increase productivity in adverse climatic conditions and limited resources

e-Crop Based Smart Farming (e-CBSF): How to Use?

e-Crop sends the fertigation requirements to the smart fertigation system via text message. The system decodes messages and nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, and water are taken from the respective container as per the quantity in the message.

All these elements are sent to the mixing chamber where the nutrients are mixed with water and applied to crops through a drip sprinkler or any related method connected with the system. This device can be operated remotely from anywhere in the world using mobile devices.

The technology has been applied to cassava, sweet potato, elephant foot yam, and banana, which reduced the yield gap to 5% from 50% in traditional farming. This technology can be adapted to other field crops by integrating suitable crop models.