A Lagrange Interpolation Application for Automating Fertilizer Distribution in Agriculture using Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

Background: Agriculture is the linchpin of the Indian economic system which extraordinarily dependent on soil, use of fertilizer and climate conditions. Soil fertility depletion is a reason for the problem of Indian agriculture. Not only the usage of plant vitamins per hectare is fairly low and imbalanced, but also the Indian farmers are still using the traditional method to spread the fertilizer in the field which is the predominant reason for low crop yields. It also influences people via consumption. So, there should be a precision and constancy tracking mechanism in agricultural merchandise and use of fertilizers inside the farm. In this paper, the implemented system presents a method for the distribution of required fertilizer for crop acreage. To optimize this, the wireless sensor gives a systematic answer for fertilizer distribution using Lagrange’s Interpolation (LI). Methods: The experiment was carried out in the MIT Academy of Engineering’s Agrotech Farm in Pune over the last one year (2019-2020). The readings were taken from the tomato crop. We used the LI to evaluate the values between Standard, Conventional and Actual, which delivers the optimal value and reduces fertilizer waste and farmers’ financial burden. These LI may result in a decrease in the number of sensor nodes in the agricultural field. The decrease in sensor nodes lowers total operating costs. Result: With an equally and unequally spaced approach, in comparison to a conventional strategy the implemented system saves nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) by just giving the crop with the required amount of fertilizer.