Senior Design Team sddec19-19 • Printed Miniature Nutrient Sensors

Soil conditions are never the same for any two patches of land adjacent to each other. One patch could be dense in NO3 (Nitrates), while the other could be saturated in NO₃. For the best yield per acre, farmers need accurate data about the current nitrate levels in soil, in order to determine the right type and amount of fertilizer required for that acre. However, inaccurate data and the long waiting time on soil analysis results, often leave farmers with incomplete information about current soil conditions, which has detrimental effects on the harvest of a crop. The unknown or inaccurate measurement of nitrate levels in crops leads to excess fertilizer application which in turn also result in unnecessary expenditure. At the same time, the excess or insufficient fertilizer application may also result in the production level of the crops.

The solution (pictures above) to the stated problem is to provide farmers with a portable tool that reads and provides accurate data about the current nitrate conditions on the field at any given time. With this in mind, the miniature nutrient plant sensor and its app were made. These sensors can accurately detect NO₃ levels in soil (on a daily basis) to ensure that farmers are well informed about them. The data collected by these sensors are readily available on the database once the sensor had transmitted it and it can be viewed by the app.