IOT in Cotton farming and factors affecting Growth of Cotton

Major Challenges Faced in Cotton Farming:

•  Climatic conditions 
• Inappropriate use to pesticides and fertilizers 
• Attack of pest and diseases 
• Low income of small farm holders 
• Low price due to quality issues
• Higher labour cost
• Soil depletion  

“TITLE:  APPLICATIONS OF IOT IN COTTON FARMING” 

 Objective of the study: 

a)     To study how IoT plays significant role in cotton farming. 

b)    To study how different parameters affect growth of cotton. 

c)     To analyse requirement of different parameter at different growth stages. 

Objective 1: To study how IoT plays significant role in Cotton Farming.  

IoT in agriculture is used in various operations from sowing to harvesting to processing to delivering to customers. IoT in agriculture is to be considered as an ideal solution in the area of monitoring and controlling. It helps an agriculturist in decision making by analysing the remote data. IoT in agriculture primary focuses on monitoring, controlling and tracking which gives several variables: 

•       Temperature Monitoring 

•       Air Monitoring 

•       Humidity Monitoring 

•       Soil Monitoring 

•       Irrigation Monitoring and Controlling 

•       Animal Monitoring and Tracking 

•       Fertilization 

•       Diseases Monitoring 

•       Pest Controlling 

•       Location Tracking 

•       Field Tracking 

The various application of IoT also applies to the Cotton Farming as well. There has been various technologies and solutions in order to overcome the challenges faced. Knowing more about challenges and their solutions could help the farmers. The Main focus is on the IOT application in cotton farming and how it can overcome the challenges faced. 

1.     Inappropriate use of pesticides and fertilizers:  

The excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers can seriously affect the water resources and decreases soil fertility. It also effects the human health and biodiversity in the long run. To avoid such problems and issues it is important to use fertilizers and pesticides in limited about or as required and not in excess amount. Fertilization system can be installed in fields which would spread fertilizers directly to the roots. This will reduce the amount of fertilizer needed and simultaneously decrease the cost and improves soil health. 

Remote sensing technology can be widely used in order to monitor the pest and suggest pest management strategies. This could not only increase yield but also great solution to many other problems causing. 

2.     Soil depletion 

Soil depletion is the condition when the components contribution for soil fertility gets removed due to any reason and doesn’t get replaced back. It may be caused due to various reasons. Major reasons are soil erosion, water logging, improper cultivation practices, excess irrigation. All the factors mentioned can be tracked with the Soil sensor that would be helpful in regaining the soil quality. 

3.     Climatic conditions:  

Motoring of weather condition at particular location can be done and data could be accessible throughout the world. The data received is processed and communicated via networking to cloud and it is stored in could. The data can be accessible at any internet available in the world. Parameters like temperature, humidity, pressure, rainfall can be controlled using environment and weather monitoring system that consist of humidity and temperature sensor, pressure sensor. The data stored in cloud can be useful for future references too. 

4.     Attack of pests and diseases:  

Pink bollworm is the major pest that attacks cotton that is found worldwide. Hence, to detect pink bollworm at early stage becomes of vital importance in order to control the deterioration of cotton boll quantity and quality. Remote sensing could help in detection of pest and diseases. The various wavelengths and reflection from farm help to detect the pests. The hyperspectral data is useful to detect Pink bollworm and recognize the level of infection.  

5.     Higher labour cost:  

The major reason for higher labour cost is the harvesting of cotton. Cotton is picked by human hands which has major disadvantages. Firstly, takes ample number of days to complete harvesting. Secondly, increases the cost of harvesting. Lastly, Sudden rains could affect harvesting. To solve major problems faced, cotton picker machine could be used in order to harvest the cotton. To build such machine issue faced is that cotton grows at very different heights. For a machine to detect it is a huge task. Hence, use of image processing and sensors the machine could detect the cotton making piking process much easier. 

Objective 2: To study how different parameters affect growth of cotton.  

a)     Rainfall: The optimum rainfall requirement for cotton growth is said to be 150200 cm. the initial germination stage only requires rainfall where as rainfall during later stages could result in decrease in yield. Specially during the harvest period, the rainfall can damage crops at very severe rate. Hence, sowing at right time is recommended. In India it is sown during April-May and harvested in December-January that is before winter as winter frost can damage the crops. 

b)    Soil pH:  Cotton generally requires deep, fertile sandy loam soil with good drainage facilities for better growth. Seed germination in sandy soil or clay soil creates a problem. For cotton cultivation the soil should not be alkaline or saline. Cotton is recommended to grow in soil with pH between 6.0 to 8.0. when the soil pH decreases below 5.5 or above 8.5 it severely effects the yield of cotton. In such cases, soil amendments are recommended to improve soil condition. 

c)     Soil Moisture: Cotton being the drought tolerant crop has a wide range of soil moisture requirement. Hence the water requirement varies from 400-800 mm depending upon different conditions. In terms of percentage of total seasonal water use, crop water requirement is 20 % till 1st flower, 40 % during 1st flower to peak flower, 30 % during peak flower to bursting of few bolls and only 10 % till maturity. In case of excess soil moisture content, it causes increase in fruit shed due to decrease in oxygen level of the soil. Also, decrease in soil moisture content of soil results in ageing of leaves and further causing shed. 

d)    Soil Temperature: Soil temperature majorly effects the seed germination. Higher soil temperature can achieve early germination which ruins the growth stages of cotton. Similarly, if maintained low soil temperature it may take more days to emerge. Hence, soil temperature must be maintained at the time to germination stage above 64°F and in case of poor-quality seeds 70°F can be better target. 

e)     Air Humidity: Humidity mainly affects the colour and quality of cotton. As we know that humid conditions are preferable for growth of microorganisms which can led to deterioration and discoloration of cotton fiber. It can also increase the attack to pest and diseases. Hence relative humidity of the air must be below 70%. 

f)     Air Temperature: Cotton requires warm days and relatively warm nights for optimum growth. The minimum temperature during germination is expected to be around 18°C and during crop growth above 25°C. However, high temperature during middle stages effects the fertilization rate, cotton boll volume and quantity of cottonseed buds. Exposure to high temperature (>35°C) limits the growth and development of cotton. If the temperature reaches below 20°C during flowering and ball phases it would result in slow growth. The seedlings must be protected from cold weather in order to avoid deterioration in fiber quality and yield. 

g)    Light Intensity: High light intensity is required for the proper growth of cotton throughout all stages. High sunlight produces sugars which helps in boll development and foliage. Whereas low light intensity can cause reduction in boll development and eventually result in low quality. 

Objective 3: To analyse requirement of different parameter at different growth stages 

Cotton being a slow growing plant takes at least 160 frost-free days to grow. It can grow maximum up to 6 feet height. According to the National Cotton Council of America, the developmental phases of cotton can be divided into five main growth stages: 

1.     Germination and emergence 

2.     Seedling establishment 

3.     Leaf area and canopy development 

4.     Flowering and boll development 

5.     Maturation  

However, there isn’t sharp changes in this stages that could be seen clearly. Farmers understanding the cotton growth and requirement at different stages can solve many problems in crop management, that can result in high yield and profits. Certain requirement at different growth stages is explained below. 

ª  Temperature: During planting of seed the minimum soil temperature required is 18°C. Decrease in temperature affects the emergence time and in long run result in decrease in final yield. The optimum temperature required at all growth stages is above 60°F.