Wireless Sensor Networks for Paddy Field Crop Monitoring Application in Kuttanad

The evolution of wireless sensor network technology has enabled us to develop advanced systems for real time monitoring. In the present scenario wireless sensor networks are increasingly being used for precision agriculture. The advantages of using wireless sensor networks in agriculture are distributed data collection and monitoring, monitor and control of climate, irrigation and nutrient supply. Hence decreasing the cost of production and increasing the efficiency of production.This paper describes the application of wireless sensor network for crop monitoring in the paddy fields of kuttand, a region of Kerala, the southern state of India. Keywords–Crop monitoring, Precision agriculture, Wireless sensor networks, Zigbee. Kuttanad, the rice bowl of Kerala, is unique among the rice ecologies of the world; the biggest wetlands of the country, located 0.5 – 2.5 metres below mean sea level (msl). Rice is grown by construction of bunds and dewatering the so formed polders mainly during the puncha (rabi) season from Oct. – Nov. to Jan. – Feb. The soils of Kuttanad are low to medium in fertility. Soil is enriched by annual silt deposition during the mansoon floods. The soils are alluvial with silty clay texture and are acid sulphate in nature with excessive iron content. The major problems faced by Kuttanad rice are flood and lack of drainage, intrusion of saline water and soil acidity. In spite of the sharp decline in area under rice; Kuttanad rice bowl (53600 ha.) accounts for 18 per cent of the rice growing area and 25 per cent of total production of the State.The major occupation in Kuttanad is farming. Rice is the important agricultural product, giving Kuttanad the moniker of “The Rice Bowl of Kerala”. Three crops are grown every year now instead of the traditional two per year. Large farming areas near Vembanad Lake were actually reclaimed from the