An IoT-Based Smart Irrigation System with Cloud Analytics for Precision Agriculture

Abstract

Agriculture consumes the largest share of freshwater, and inefficientirrigation wastes both water and energy while sometimes harming yield. TheInternet of Things, combined with cloud analytics, offers a way to irrigateprecisely according to the actual needs of the crop. This paper presents anIoT-based smart irrigation system that uses soil-moisture sensors and weather information, processed through a cloud platform, to control irrigation automatically. Soil-moisture readings and rainfall forecasts are sent to the cloud, where an irrigation decision combines a moisture threshold with the expected weather, actuating drip valves only when needed. The system was evaluated in a field trial against a conventional fixed schedule over a four-month tomato-growing season. The smart system reduced water use by about thirty-seven percent and the number of irrigation events by a similar margin, while slightly increasing yield. The results show that combining IoT sensing with cloud analytics enables substantial water savings without compromising productivity, supporting more sustainable precision agriculture. KEYWORDS:smart irrigation, Internet of Things, precision agriculture,cloud analytics, soil moisture, water conservation