Development of Soil Electrical Conductivity (EC) Sensing System in Paddy Field

Abstract

The amount of fertilisers affects electrical conductivity (EC), and it is one of the major causes of the paddy yield decrease. The overuse of fertilisers can lead to environmental pollution and contamination. This study designed to develop soil electrical conductivity (EC) sensing system in the paddy field using the smart farming application. In this work, the study conducted in Kampung Ladang, Kuala Perlis, and the soil samples collected from a random location at two different depths from the paddy field. The EC value for the developed system was near the calibration solutions (12880µS and 150000µS) and directly proportional to the temperature. From the laboratory soil results, the EC values of the soils were higher with fertiliser. However, the EC values for 0-10cm soil depth were higher than 10-20cm soil depth. The soil EC is inversely proportional to the depth of soil and directly proportional to the amount of nutrients. It observed that the soil EC is linearly related to the amount of nutrients and temperature. The EC value decreases with the increase of soil depth displays a low amount of salts in the deep soil, while, increases with the increase of temperature indicates high current flow.