Tuesday, 22 April 2025
Headline
Tuesday, 22 April 2025
Tuesday, 22 April 2025
Agriculture is an integral part of India’s culture from thousands of years ago. Our Vedic books provide the earliest signs of agriculture in India. Over time, agriculture has become more important to us. Indian agriculture contributes a large share in the economy as the country ranks 2nd in the world in agriculture production.
Indian agriculture does not stick to a specific crop as the landscape consists of different types of nourished soils. For instance, black soil, alluvial soil, red and yellow soil, saline soil, etc. This is why farmers can grow a wide variety of crops like rice, wheat, potato, pulses, rubber, etc. Indian agriculture does not depend on rainfall. Horticulture and livestock production adds a major share to Indian agriculture.
After the Bengal famine in 1943, farmers and agriculture enthusiasts realised the weakness of Indian agriculture. They decided to bring several technologies to fasten agriculture production with fertilisers, irrigation, plant protection, etc. HYVs (High yielding variety seeds) increased agricultural production during the green revolution while maintaining quality.
Also, various agriculture brands like Mahindra Tractor have been helping the Indian farmers to maximise farm yield, for a long time.
After using the basic farming methods like rotational crop system, drip irrigation, no-till farming, etc. Now Indian agriculture has many breakthroughs as Indian farmers have become smarter. They use intelligent farming techniques like indoor vertical farming, farm automation, and precision agriculture, with the help of artificial intelligence.
One of the recent developments in Indian agriculture is soil moisture sensors. Let’s learn more about this modern technology in detail:
The state of soil continually changes throughout the year as it gets affected by the weather, density, and farming patterns. The crops need to adjust to the changing soil to grow to their optimum capacity. Till now, farmers used to collect water and plant samples. Then send those to a lab for testing, which would take weeks for results.
Due to the recent advancement in technology, the farmers quickly get real-time readings from the field, which helps them make accurate decisions at the right time. The soil moisture sensors are connected to the irrigation system. It measures soil moisture in the roots before each irrigation cycle. Depending on the soil moisture content, these sensors either allow the irrigation system to run or avoid it.
The soil moisture sensors determine the soil’s moisture volume and how effective the fertilisers are and how they respond to changing variables like temperature and light. This, in turn, helps the farmer to take fast actions for the betterment of the crops.
Soil moisture sensors calculate the water content in the soil through the dielectric constant of the soil. The dielectric constant is the ability of the soil to carry electricity. With more water content in the soil, the dielectric constant also increases. This gets detected easily and stops the irrigation systems for the next cycle.
Do Soil Moisture Sensors Work?
A high-end soil moisture sensor used correctly predicts accurately. However, using a low-quality soil moisture sensor might give less accurate results. So, it is essential to use the best sensors in the market.
These are parallel pairs of rings joining the ends of the probe, usually installed in plastic tubes. The electric field between the soil and the sensor passes through the tube. These probes help in eliminating the extra cost of installing multiple sensors.
As the name suggests, these sensors estimate the amount of water content in the soil. Then they determine the volume of irrigation required if any. These sensors are used for quick results and long-term use.
These sensors help estimate the soil’s matric potential, i.e., the pressure it takes to extract water from the soil. These sensors are used to ascertain the soil water changes and the water that the soil holds for its nourishment.
