Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Materials Today: Proceedings

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Smart agriculture sensors in IOT: A review

Sanika Ratnaparkhi a, Suvaid Khan a, Chandrakala Arya b, Shailesh Khapre a, Prabhishek Singh a,
Manoj Diwakar c, Achyut Shankar a
a
Department of CSE, Amity School of Engineering and Technology, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida, India
b
Department of School of Computing, Graphic Era Hill University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
c
Department of CSE, Graphic Era (Deemed to be University) Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: IoT is a new and upcoming trend in technology that finds its application in almost every field. Things,
Received 23 October 2020 when connected to the internet and to each other, make the entire system smart. We have used IoT in
Accepted 6 November 2020 every way of life: Smart Cities, Smart homes, Smart retail and many more. Using IoT in agriculture and
Available online xxxx
farming practises is the need of the hour as the global population will hit a peak of 9.6 billion by
2050, to meet that kind of demand the agriculture industry needs to supply at an even faster rate. This
Keywords: is made possible by using modern technology and mainly IoT. IoT makes labour free farms a possibility.
IoT
Not only in major farming practices but it can also be used in maintaining livestock, greenhouse farming,
Precision
Sensors
managing farms etc. The most important tool used for IoT is Sensors, sensors are devices that collect
Connected essential data which is interpreted to get the desired analysis. For agriculture, sensors are mainly used
Analysis to get readings used to measure NPK values, detect diseases & moisture content in the soil. This paper
Agriculture explores its application in the agricultural sectors. Smart agriculture is called precision agriculture
because it uses precise data to reach conclusions. It shows the various sensors which aid IoT and agricul-
ture, their applications, challenges, advantages and disadvantages.
Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Emerging Trends in
Materials Science, Technology and Engineering.

1. Introduction
We live in a fast-paced world where all things are intercon-
nected with each other. These things when connected to each other
and the internet make them smart. The IoT is a huge network of
connected things that gather, store and use data about their sur-
rounding environment. These things are nothing but devices con-
nected to things of daily use such as ovens, room heaters,
smartphones, lights, TVs, wearable fitness devices etc. IoT is rightly
called an ecosystem of the interconnected machine. This technol-
ogy can be widely used in the field of agriculture in order to max-
imize crop production by monitoring and optimizing farm. The
most common use of sensors is to measure soil properties which
are essential for the cultivation of crops. This type of agriculture
which makes use of sensors and smart technology is commonly
known as precision agriculture. The sensors provide various types
E-mail addresses: shaileshkhaprerkl@gmail.com (S. Khapre), prabhisheksingh88@
gmail.com (P. Singh), manoj.diwakar@gmail.com (M. Diwakar), ashankar2711@gmail.
com (A. Shankar)
of data to the farmers which are processed to maximize crop pro-
duction. These sensors are controlled using mobile applications
which are specially developed for this purpose. Most sensors adapt
to environmental changes and weather conditions hence can be
used all year round and on different types of farmlands Fig. 1
Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 5 Fig. 6 Fig. 7 Table 1 Table 2 Table 3 Table 4
Table 5 Table 6 Table 7.
The main goal of the sensors is to determine the physical prop-
erties of soil and surroundings. Key uses of sensors are- monitoring
and control, security and warning & diagnosis and analysis [4].
Sensors make modern farming more efficient and hassle-free. It
is one step closer to making agriculture self-dependent and free
from human interaction. The irrigation process will essentially
speed up and production will exponentially rise [5].
This paper explains the IoT technology used for agriculture. The
paper specifically focuses on the sensor technology used for preci-
sion agriculture and farming activities. In this paper, the uses and
applications of various sensors which are helpful in the agricultural
process. Their products are commercially available. How these sen-
sors are implemented in various types of farmland. How it will

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.11.138
2214-7853/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Emerging Trends in Materials Science, Technology and Engineering.

Please cite this article as: S. Ratnaparkhi, S. Khan, C. Arya et al., Smart agriculture sensors in IOT: A review, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.matpr.2020.11.138
S. Ratnaparkhi, S. Khan, C. Arya et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 5. Non-Contact EM sensor.

Fig. 1. Crop Canopy Sensor.

Fig. 2. Chlorofilog.
Fig. 6. Veris 3100.

Fig. 7. Parrot Sequoia + .

advantage the farmers, consumers and the economy. Their draw-

backs, challenges and scope for improvement will also be
discussed.
Fig. 3. Crop Circle. Section I introduces the smart sensors related to agriculture.
Section II explains about IoT and smart agriculture its examples
and requirements. Section III explains about various types of agri-
cultural sensors with their commercial availability and advantages.
Section IV explains the applications of agricultural sensors with
their advantages and disadvantages. Section V explains the various
challenges faced in agricultural sensors.

2. Smart agriculture using IOT

2.1. Smart agriculture

Smart Agriculture is the newest and upcoming development in

the IoT sector. It means using data collected to precisely analyze
the correct methods for various agricultural processes. Smart agri-
culture will enable farmers to use their lands efficiently, make pro-
cesses faster and agile, use fertilizers and pesticides in a controlled
quantity, gain a maximum yield, have insights, make predictions
and analyze risks for further use based on previous data etc. A wide
range of smart agriculture and IoT enabled products are available
Fig. 4. OptRx. in the market ranging from sensors, drones, consoles, automatic
2
S. Ratnaparkhi, S. Khan, C. Arya et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 1 Table 3
Commercially available Electromagnetic sensors. Commercially available Electromagnetic sensors.

Name Manufacturer Features Name Manufacturer Uses

Crop Top Con The Crop canopy sensor measures chlorophyll Veris 3100 Veris The main use of this device is for mapping
Canopy Agriculture values and nitrogen concentration in the Technologies electrical conductivity. It is a direct contact
Sensor plants. It uses the principle of reflectance while sensor and is connected to the vehicle.
using pulsating laser diodes to gather the data EM-38 Geonics Capturing EM response
This sensor work with consoles- X35 and X25 Limited
by the same company for monitoring the Soil Doctor Crop Adjusting the variable-rate response in
farms. Systems Technology, realtime.
OptRx Agleader The OptRx also uses the reflectance of light on Inc
the growing plants to measure real-time crop
health. This data is further processed to
determine the vegetative index of the crop. The
readings obtained are used to set aside crops Table 4
with a high vegetative index to the rest of the Advantages of Electromagnetic sensors.
crops. This comparison is done by 2 algorithms Name Advantages
– NDVI (for small crops) & NDVE (for large and
late growth of crops) Veris 3100 Veris 3100 is the most widely used and standard
Clorofilog Falker It is a powerful sensor that measures the commercially used EC mapper. The data recorded gives the
chlorophyll content in leaves. The amount of most accurate soil EC. It can easily adapt to the unruly
chlorophyll in the leaves helps for further landscape and large fields.
determining the nutritional status of the plant EM-38 This sensor measures both magnetic susceptibility and
in its growing stage. Clorofilog uses 3 conductivity (quad-phase). They do not require contact with
wavelengths of light and gives immediate the soil.
results based on the absorption of light by the Soil Doctor These Sensors are in direct contact with the soil. Provides
leaf. It requires the leaf to be physically Systems on-the-go and real-time results quickly & efficiently.
connected to the sensor.
CropCycle Holland Holland Scientific is a European manufacturer
Phenom Scientific and CropCycle is its strong product. This sensor
collects a wide variety of data including NDVI Table 5
& NDVE vegetation indices, chlorophyll Major manufacturers of electrochemical sensors.
content, air temperature, distance estimation, Manufacturer Country
humidity etc. It can be mounted on farm
vehicles. General Electronics United States
Emerson USA, Germany
Honeywell USA, India, Major parts of Asia

Table 2
Advantages of Electromagnetic sensors.
Table 6
Name Advantages
Commercially available Location sensors.
Crop Canopy Installed on roofs or higher places to reduce damage in the
Name Manufacturer Uses
Sensor farm equipment. Maximizes yield potential. Can be used in 3
different modes: a) Read and Record- To monitor crops over Sequoia Parrot This particular sensor can be attached to all kinds
time. b) User determined rate control- For on the go + of drones. It comes with GPS and a camera. It can
readings. c) Real-Time Variable rate application- To capture the light absorbed and reflected by the
determine site-specific rates of fertilizers. plant which can be used to check the status of the
OptRx The OptRx sensors address the issues related to weather and crops. It has the ability to adapt to the speed,
soil matter. It has the ability to give determine areas in a altitude and position of the drone. It has an 8899
field that require nitrogen and the areas which are nitrogen- one-of-a-kind multispectral sensor and a sun
rich. sensor.
Clorofilog Using this nitrogen level can be determined to fertilize the
farmland correctly. Wastage of fertilizer is minimized.
Results are given quickly and readily. Data can be stored for Table 7
further use Commercially available airflow sensors.
CropCycle Can cover large landscapes of farm. Early disease detection.
Phenom Landscape mapping. Nutrient & fertilization study. Name Manufacturer Features
Amplified Honeywell Silicon chip design. Are heat and
Airflow temperature-sensitive. Additional features
sprinklers, etc. If used correctly IoT can bring a new green revolu- Sensors that boost the output signal.
Amplified Honeywell Low power consumption. Additional ports
tion. Simply put IoT in agriculture connects devices that collect Airflow for more flexibility. Users can modify
data to devices that analyze data using the internet to make things Sensors amplification for the maximum output
smarter and achieve full potential out of them [1]. signal.

2.2. IoT in agriculture: Examples
1. Precision farming using sensors: The most important part of
agriculture is to know the capabilities of the soil, nutrients
required for plant growth and the amount of moisture required
in the soil [2]. Agricultural sensors are made to match these
requirements. Their main job is to collect data throughout-
from the sowing season to harvesting. There is a sensor for all
types of purposes for eg- CO2 content, air temperature, NPK
content, Solar radiation, soil mapping and so on. The combina-
3
tion of collected data from all these sensors is used for direct
analysis of which type of crop to grow on which part of field,
what amount and type of fertilizer is required, which is the
most suitable type of irrigation and right amount of water
required, early detection of diseases in the crop and much more.
Sensors can be installed on drones, vehicles, directly into the
soil or on a higher level according to their purpose.
2. Smart Greenhouses: IoT is used in greenhouses to monitor the
climate inside greenhouses, measure the growth of plants, plant
requirements, light level, humidity, temperature which entirely
S. Ratnaparkhi, S. Khan, C. Arya et al.
eliminates the need for human intervention. Mostly cloud ser-
vers that use the real-time data are made to maintain
greenhouses.
3. Monitoring Livestock: Maintaining livestock is a costly process
and IoT makes it easier. The owners can monitor the exact loca-
tion of their cattle, their growth rate, diseases they might have
contracted, their daily food, water and nutrition requirement,
sleep cycles and separate healthy cattle from sick cattle. The
same type of technology can be used for poultry farming, Api-
culture, pisciculture etc. This requires hardly any labour and
brings down huge costs.
4. Farm management systems: IoT finds its application in manag-
ing things like storage, logistics, sale and purchasing, mainte-
nance, waste management etc. The farm owner can easily
access all this data in one place using their smartphones.
2.3. The requirement for IOT based agriculture and farming activities
1. Connectivity: To make IoT systems work stable internet con-
nectivity is the most important and basic requirement. The con-
nection needs to be reliable, withstand various climatic
conditions and be available all throughout the area.
2. Sensors and Hardware: Correct sensors in which match require-
ments are needed. These sensors can be commercially bought
or custom made. It is important to check the quality of sensors
before implementing them for long and sustained use.
3. Data Analysis tools: Along with the sensors, tools to analyze the
data using various algorithms and machine learning to gain pre-
dictive insights are required. This is the core of any precision
agriculture practice.
4. Secure internal systems: The software should have proper secu-
rity which prevents the stealing of data. The software should
also be easy to use for the farmers and accessible.
5. Management System: The users need to ensure that sensors are
maintained at regular intervals of time. They are sensitive
devices that require a little amount of maintenance like clean-
ing, replacement of batteries etc.
3. Types of agricultural sensors
3.1. Optical sensors
As the name suggests optical sensors make use of light to mea-
sure properties of soil. They can determine moisture content,
organic matter and clay in the soil. This type of sensor is installed
in drones, robots and satellites. There are a number of commer-
cially available optical sensors that slightly vary from each other
in terms of properties and construction [3].
3.2. Electromagnetic sensors
Electric circuits are used in electromagnetic sensors to record
data on various components like soil texture, water drainage, salin-
ity, level organic matter, cation exchange capacity, soil pH etc.
Electric circuits are used so the capability of charge to pass through
or accumulate in the soil is recorded. Electromagnetic sensors can
be implemented in the soil directly (contact) or be completely out
of the soil (NonContact).
Contact method- In this method, the sensor needs to be in direct
contact with the soil hence electrodes are used which maintain this
contact. These type of sensor can be mounted on tractors and other
vehicles which can be tracked using GPS.
Non-contact method- The principle of electromagnetic induc-
tion (EMI) is used here because the sensor is not in direct contact
with the soil.
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The electromagnetic properties (soil EC) do not directly influ-
ence the crop yield but this data is helpful to determine essential
soil properties for essential growth of crops. Most Electromagnetic
sensors serve one of the following purposes-
 Mapping of electrical conductivity.
 Mapping of temporary EM response.
 Real-time application of various rates.
Following are some commercially available EM sensors which
serve the above purposes.
3.3. Electrochemical sensors
Some of the most important soil properties required for analysis
are the pH levels and nutrient content in the soil. In these types of
sensors, electrodes are used to measure the voltage between 2
points to calculate the concentration level of ions such as H+, K+,
NO3– etc. for this method the electrode needs to be in contact with
the soil sample. The traditional method is the chemical soil analy-
sis which is expensive and time taking. The many types of elec-
trodes used are- ISE- ion-selective electrode and ISFET- ion-
selective field effective transistors & chemically altered ion-
selective field effective transistors.
3.4. Location sensors
Location or position sensors are used to map farms accurately
using GPS. These tracking devices are used by farmers to under-
stand how and where to use pesticides, fertilizers and in what
quantity. This can be used to detect irregular landscapes, uneven
land, levelling problem which causes water logging etc.
3.5. Airflow sensors
The use of airflow sensors is to measure the air permeability in
the soil. The air permeability of soil is the measure of how the soil
resists the flow of air through it. This factor is important to mea-
sure the type of soil, structure and moisture/ humidity content of
the soil. These sensors have silicon chips to sense temperature
and heating. They give a response to air and gas flowing through
the soil with their direction and speed.
3.6. Acoustic sensors
An acoustic sensor detects sound. These sensors are commonly
used for the detection of pests in the field. They have nodes that are
to be placed at appropriate locations on the field if a pest passes
through the vicinity of it the sound can be easily detected and
reported to the connected device along with its location. Pests
are a hindrance which causes damage to the fields and brings plant
diseases.
4. Applications, advantages & disadvantages of agricultural
sensors
4.1. Applications
1. Sensors are widely used in agriculture, apart from its direct
uses in large farms it can also have applications in areas like-
Greenhouse farming, livestock maintenance, transportation and
storage etc.
2. It is a vast and growing industry, it is projected to be worth
4.3 billion USD by 2023 at a CAGR of 19.3%.
S. Ratnaparkhi, S. Khan, C. Arya et al.
3. According to the report by UN the world population is
expected to be 8.5 billion by 2030. To meet the demand the overall
supply of agriculture should grow. With the help of sensors and its
IoT applications, the supply requirements can be met.
4. As the use of sensors grows farmlands will be self-sufficient,
will not require manual work and eventually labour costs will
decrease.
5. Precision farming, when used correctly, increases agricultural
production at a lower cost.
6. In addition to making the soil quality better, sensors also find
its application in the way irrigation is done. To reduce wastage of
water sensors is used in the water tanks and runoffs in the farms
hence farmers can monitor the water supply.
7. Sensors provide the most accurate data with less percentage
of error. When these figures when used with algorithms that pro-
cess this information the crops grow correctly and the farmland is
fully utilized.
8. Diseases and hindrances like rodents, weeds etc are detected
early and can be treated easily.
9. Farmlands are used fully and effectively so there is no
wastage of land even when no crops are grown soil fertility is
maintained.
10. Items that aid crop production like fertilizers, pesticides etc
are used in the correct quantity and wastage and spoilage of crops
will be reduced.
4.2. Advantages
1. Agricultural sensors enhance farming productivity.
2. It prevents soil degradation in cultivable land.
3. Excessive use of chemicals declined.
4. Efficient use of water resources.
5. Minimize risk of groundwater degradation.
6. This field will open opportunities for skilled employment &
generate employment.
4.3. Disadvantages
1. The cost of investment is high.
2. Some amount of training and advice from experts is required
for correctly using and implementing sensors which are not
feasible.
3. Time is consumed before the data can be processed and made
use of on some particular farms, hence it can sometimes be
assumed to be impractical.
4. In countries like India, large farms are broken down into
small lands for different types of crops so using sensors will be
time taking and costly.
5. Challenges faced while using agricultural sensors
1. The Sensor and IoT technology have not been fully developed
in India and its neighbouring countries, hence it will take time to
accumulate precision farming in developing countries.
2. Sensors need to be customized when they are to be used in
hilly terrains which are a costly process.
3. Remote areas may not have access to good ranged WiFi con-
nectivity hence installation of sensors can be difficult.
4. Though the chances are low but western readings can some-
times be faulty or show an error.
5. Most sensors are compact and can be easily be damaged by
natural factors like storms & floods or animals.
6. If damaged, sensors need experts and technicians for repair
work which is not always feasible.
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Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
7. Sensors are readily available in countries but have fewer
manufacturers in Asia and Africa so importing and using them
might be challenging.
8. The development of new sensors requires a large amount of
data to derive appropriate results.
9. Sensors may get damaged during transportation because of
their fragile nature.
10. If some sensors require extra equipment for use it might not
be economically efficient.
6. Conclusion
It is now seen that precision agriculture is the new face of agri-
culture. It will soon replace traditional methods and increase the
productivity of the farms. It is already in practice in large farms
and developed countries but if it is correctly used in countries like
India, China and countries from Africa it can easily put an end to
world hunger. This modern farming practice can bring a new age
of green revolution and will be a new path towards development
for a country like India where agriculture is the primary industry
and the economy depends on it. It is also seen how various types
of sensors that work on general scientific principles are used in
IoT. The focus of this paper was to introduce IoT and how it is use-
ful in agricultural practices. The main objective was to explain in
detail the various types of agricultural sensors that are used to col-
lect the data. Many commercially available sensors were explained
in brief along with their advantages. The paper also focused on
applications, advantages & disadvantages and challenges of Agri-
cultural sensors.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Sanika Ratnaparkhi: Methodology. Suvaid Khan: Software,
Data curation. Chandrakala Arya: Data curation, Writing - original
draft. Shailesh Khapre: Visualization, Investigation. Prabhishek
Singh: Supervision. Manoj Diwakar: Software, Validation. Achyut
Shankar: Writing - review & editing.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
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Further Reading
[1] Viacheslav Adamchuk, McGill University; Barry Allred, USDA– ARS; James
Doolittle Tools for Proximal Soil Sensing, 2017.
[2] Miso Ju, Younchang Choi, Jihyun Seo, Jaewon Sa, Sungju Lee, Yongwha Chung
and Daihee Park, A Kinect-Based Segmentation of Touching-Pigs for Real-Time
Monitoring, MDPI, 29 May 2018.
[3] Sai Xu, Xiuxiu Sun, Huazhong Lu, Hui Yang, Qingsong Ruan, Hao Huang and
Minglin Chen, Detecting and Monitoring the Flavor of Tomato (Solanum
S. Ratnaparkhi, S. Khan, C. Arya et al.
lycopersicum) under the Impact of Postharvest Handlings by Physicochemical
Parameters and Electronic Nose, MDPI, 2018.
[4] Matthew Coombe, Tom Fletcher , Wen-Hua Chen and Cunjia Liu, ‘‘Optimal
Polygon Decomposition for UAV Survey Coverage Path Planning in Wind”,MDPI,
3 July 2018.
[5] Thomas Truong, Anh Dinh and Khan Wahid, An Ultra-Wideband Frequency
System for Non-Destructive Root Imaging, MDPI, 26 July 2018.
[6] Jyothsna Konkada Manattayil, Naresh Kumar Ravichandran, Ruchire
ErangaWijesinghe, Muhammad Faizan Shirazi, Seung-Yeol Lee, Pilun Kim,
Hee-Young Jung, Mansik Jeon ,and Jeehyun Kim, Non-Destructive
Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
Classification of Diversely Stained Capsicum annuum Seed Specimens of
Different Cultivars Using Near-Infrared Imaging Based Optical Intensity
Detection, MDPI, 1 August 2018.
[7] Xiaodong Du, Fengdan Lao, and Guanghui Teng, A Sound Source Localisation
Analytical Method for Monitoring the Abnormal Night Vocalisations of Poultry,
MDPI, 1 September 2018.
[8] Konstantinos G. Liakos, Patrizia Busato, Dimitrios Moshou, Simon Pearson ID
and Dionysis Bochtis, IMachine Learning in Agriculture: A Review, MDPI, 14
August 2018.