Calibration of Five-pin soil Sensor for Soil Monitoring of Greenhouses in Rwanda

Abstract

As the population of the world increases, more food must be produced. The proper management of soil properties is essential for increasing agricultural productivity. This study makes use of the Internet of Things by analyzing soil with a low-cost 5-pin soil sensor rather than in a laboratory. However, they come without calibration. The aim of this research is to calibrate a 5-pin soil sensor to measure seven soil properties. The calibration allowed for exact measurement to be accomplished because the correlation revealed only very small changes. The electrical conductivity correlation from the sensor and laboratory for the districts of Musanze and Kicukiro was 4.3 and 5.41, respectively. The sensor's accuracy was tested using laboratory-based data on soil analysis and validated by adding NPK 17:17:17-10g of fertilizer to a 200-ml soil sample. The sensor responded in accordance with the amount of NPK applied and the expected increase. As a result, if you follow the procedure, you can make an NPK decision based on what the sensor detects.