Monitoring of an electrically induced signal in melon in relation to different environmental conditions in a smart farm.

Abstract

A smart farm that automatically regulates environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity and nutrient supply will maximize crop production per unit area by using ICT-based technology. To control the environment in a smart greenhouse, plant growth should be monitored in real time. The physiological activity of a plant was monitored by receiving an electrical signal from inside the plant stem which changed when the plant absorbed nutrients and water. In this study, the environmental conditions in different areas of a smart farm were not much different, and growth parameters were not much affected by the environmental conditions of the area. However, a plant induced electrical signal (PIES) was associated with the atmospheric and media temperature and relative humidity although there was time lag of 6 ~ 7h for the peaks of the PIES and other environmental conditions. Therefore, monitoring a PIES will make it possible to improve the growth environments in smart farms.