Optimizing tomato production with IoT-enabled precision irrigation: A case study of water and fertilizer management

Downloads

Published

2025-06-30

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58993/ijh/2025.82.2.10

Keywords:

Automated irrigation, fertigation, sensors, IoT, yield
Dimensions Badge

Issue

Vol. 82 No. 02 (2025): Indian Journal of Horticulture

Section

Research Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Mahesh salimath, Nirmal Kaliannan, Sushant Ranjan, Varun Prabhakar

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Authors

  • Mahesh salimath 867, 2nd floor, 22nd Main Road, 2nd Phase, J.P. Nagar, Bengaluru 560078, Karnataka, India
  • Nirmal Kaliannan 867, 2nd floor, 22nd Main Road, 2nd Phase, J.P. Nagar, Bengaluru 560078, Karnataka, India
  • Sushant Ranjan 867, 2nd floor, 22nd Main Road, 2nd Phase, J.P. Nagar, Bengaluru 560078, Karnataka, India
  • Varun Prabhakar 867, 2nd floor, 22nd Main Road, 2nd Phase, J.P. Nagar, Bengaluru 560078, Karnataka, India

Abstract

Precision irrigation is key for increasing tomato yields, especially given the crop’s high-water demands. This study uses Internet of Things (IoT) technology and wireless sensor networks for automated irrigation and fertigation to improve water and fertilizer management for two tomato varieties, ‘Sahoo’ and ‘SVTD8323’, addressing resource inefficiency and water scarcity. The research compares different irrigation thresholds: -23 kPa during the seedling stage (100% water availability) and -30 kPa from vegetative to maturity stages (80% water availability). Fertigation schedules include 100% (F1) and 75% (F2) of the recommended fertilizer dose against a control treatment (constant -23 kPa) using Indian Institute of Horticulture Research fertilizer guidelines. Results show that ‘Sahoo’ under IF1 and IF2 treatments had a 12.5% and 13.5% yield increase over the control, using 34.9% and 38.7% less water, respectively. For ‘SVTD8323’, yields increased by 4.8% and 12.5% with water savings of 35.9% and 29% under IF1 and IF2. Additionally, IF2 treatment for ‘Sahoo’ and ‘SVTD8323’ resulted in a 31% and 14% rise in the number of fruits per plant, and an 8% and 5.5% increase in fruit weight, respectively. Cost analysis indicated that the control incurred the highest costs, with benefit-to-cost ratios of 1.28 and 1.34 for ‘Sahoo’ under IF1 and IF2, and 1.11 and 1.42 for ‘SVTD8323’. IoT-enabled irrigation at 75% RDF significantly improves yield and resource efficiency.

 

Results show that ‘Sahoo’ under IF1 and IF2 treatments had a 12.5% and 13.5% yield increase over the control, using 34.9% and 38.7% less water, respectively. For ‘SVTD8323’, yields increased by 4.8% and 12.5% with water savings of 35.9% and 29% under IF1 and IF2. Additionally, IF2 treatment for ‘Sahoo’ and ‘SVTD8323’ resulted in a 31% and 14% rise in the number of fruits per plant, and an 8% and 5.5% increase in fruit weight, respectively. Cost analysis indicated that the control incurred the highest costs, with benefit-to-cost ratios of 1.28 and 1.34 for ‘Sahoo’ under IF1 and IF2, and 1.11 and 1.42 for ‘SVTD8323’. IoT-enabled irrigation at 75% RDF significantly improves yield and resource efficiency.

How to Cite

salimath, M., Kaliannan, N., Ranjan, S., & Prabhakar, V. (2025). Optimizing tomato production with IoT-enabled precision irrigation: A case study of water and fertilizer management. Indian Journal of Horticulture, 82(02), 188–194. https://doi.org/10.58993/ijh/2025.82.2.10

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

1. Argo, W. R. and Biernbaum, J. A. 1994. The effect of irrigation method, water-soluble fertilization, replant nutrient charge, and surface evaporation on early vegetative and root growth of poinsettia. J. Am. Soc. Hortic. Sci. 120: 163–169.

2. Aujla, M. S., Thind, H. S. and Buttar, G. S. 2007. Fruit yield and water use efficiency of eggplant (Solanum melongema L.) as influenced by different quantities of nitrogen and water applied through drip and furrow irrigation. Sci. Hortic.112: 142–148.

3. Eisenhauer, D. E., Martin, D. L, Heeren, D. M. and Hoffman, G. J. 2021. Irrigation systems management, Am. Soc. Agric. Biol. Eng., doi:10.13031/ISM.2021.1

4. Gutiérrez, J., Villa-Medina, J. F., Nieto-Garibay, A. and Porta-Gándara, M. Á. 2013. Automated irrigation system using a wireless sensor network and GPRS module. IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas.63: 166–176.

5. Hicklenton, P. R. and Cairns, K. G. 1996. Plant water relations and mineral nutrition of containerized nursery plants in relation to irrigation method. Can. J. Plant Sci. 76: 155–160.

6. Jiang, H. M., Zhang, J. F., Song, X. Z., Liu, Z. H., Jiang, L. H. and Yang, J. C. 2012. Responses of agronomic benefit and soil quality to better management of nitrogen fertilizer application in greenhouse vegetable land. Pedosphere 22: 650–660.

7. Melvin, S. R. and Martin, D. L. 2018. Irrigation scheduling strategies when using soil water data. EC 3036. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Ext.

8. Monte, J. A., Carvalho, D. F. d., Médici, L. O., Silva, L. D. B. and Pimentel, C. 2013. Growth analysis and yield of tomato crop under different irrigation depths. Rev. Bras. Eng. Agríc. Ambient. 17(9): 926-931.

9. Mukherjee, S., Dash, P. K., Das, D. and Das, S. 2023. Growth, yield and water productivity of tomato as influenced by deficit irrigation water management. Environ. Process. 10: 10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40710-023-00624-z

10. Nangare, D. D., Singh, Y., Kumar, P. S. and Minhas, P. S. 2016. Growth, fruit yield and quality of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum

Mill.) as affected by deficit irrigation regulated on phenological basis. Agric. Water Manag. 171: 73–79.

11. Palconit, M. G. B., Macachor, E. B., Notarte, M. P., Molejon, W. L., Visitacion, A. Z., Rosales, M. A. and Dadios, E. P. 2020. IoT-based precision irrigation system for eggplant and tomato. 9th Int. Symp. Comput. Intell. Ind. Appl. (ISCIIA 2020).

12. Pramanik, S., Tripathi, S. K., Ray, R. and Banerjee, H. 2014. Economic evaluation of dripfertigation system in Banana cv. Martaman (AAB, Silk) cultivation in the new alluvium zone of West Bengal. Agric. Econ. Res. Rev. 27(347-2016-17115): 103-109.

13. Rohith, G. V., Rashmi, K. S., Hamsa, K. R., Lekshmi, U. D., Rajeshwari, D., Manjunatha, A. V. and Olekar, J. 2015. Incorporating the cost of irrigation water in the currently underestimated cost of cultivation: an empirical treatise. Indian J. Agric. Econ., 70: 1-14, 10.22004/ag.econ.230067

14. Rolfe, C. J., Currey, A. and Atkinson, I. 1994. Horticultural research; NSW agriculture; nursery industry association of australia. managing water in plant nurseries: A guide to irrigation, drainage and water recycling in containerised plant nurseries; NSW Agriculture: Wollongbar, NSW, Australia.

15. Sibomana, I. C., Aguyoh, J. N. and Opiyo, A. M. 2013. Water stress affects growth and yield of container grown tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) plants. Glob. J. Bio-Sci. BioTechnol. 2: 461-466.

16. Singh, D., Biswal, A. K., Samanta, D., Singh, V., Kadry, S., Khan, A. and Nam, Y. 2023. Smart high-yield tomato cultivation: precision irrigation system using the Internet of Things. Front. Plant Sci. 14: 1239594. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.12395941

17. Sun, Y., Hu, K. L., Fan, Z. B., Wei, Y. P., Lin, S. and Wang, J. G. 2013. Simulating the fate of nitrogen and optimizing water and nitrogen management of greenhouse tomato in North China using the EU-Rotate_N model. Agric. Water Manag. 128:72–84. Doi. 10.1016/j.agwat.2013.06.016.

18. Tesfay, T., Berhane, A. and Gebremariam, M. 2019. Optimizing irrigation water and nitrogen fertilizer levels for tomato production. Open Agric. J. 13:198-206. DOI: 10.2174/1874331501913010198.

19. Wan, S. 2008. Effect of saline water on tomato growth and yield by drip irrigation in semi-humid regions of north China. Trans. CSAE 24: 30–35.

20. Wan, X., Li, B., Chen, D., Long, X., Deng, Y., Wu, H. and Hu, J. 2021. Irrigation decision model for tomato seedlings based on optimal photosynthetic rate. Int. J. Agric. Biol. Eng., 14:115–122.

21. Wang, X. and Xing, Y. 2017. Evaluation of the effects of irrigation and fertilization on tomato fruit yield and quality: a principal component analysis. Sci. Rep. 7: 350.

22. Zhai, Y., Yang, Q. and Hou, M. 2015. The effects of saline water drip irrigation on tomato yield, quality, and blossom-end rot incidence: A case study in the south of China. PLoS ONE, 10(11):e0142204. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0142204

23. Zhao, F. Yoshida, H. Goto, E. and Hikosaka, S. 2022. Development of an irrigation method with a cycle of wilting partial recovery using an imagebased irrigation system for high-quality tomato production. Agronomy. 12: 1410.

Similar Articles

<< < 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.