AgriDropIQ: A Digital Innovation for Crop-wise Water Footprint Intelligence and Sustainable Farming

Abstract

Efficient water management in agriculture is critical to ensure sustainability, particularly in regions facing water scarcity. This project presents an integrated hardware-software system that leverages digital technology to calculate the water footprint of different agricultural products and automate irrigation based on real-time environmental data. The system begins with a user-friendly web interface where farmers or users input key parameters such as crop type, farm location, land area, and irrigation method. This data is combined with live weather information retrieved from online APIs and soil moisture readings obtained from in-field sensors. Using these inputs, the software component dynamically calculates the crop-specific water footprint by employing standard evapotranspiration models and crop coefficients, factoring in rainfall and irrigation efficiency. When the soil moisture falls below optimal levels and no rainfall is predicted, the system automatically activates irrigation through microcontroller-driven hardware connected to a water pump and valves.