Design and Controlled-Plot Validation of a Smart Dual-Mode Irrigation System for West African Riverbank Farms
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33003/fjs-2026-1019-6198Keywords:
Ewedu, Smart Irrigation, Precision Agriculture, Soil Moisture Sensing, Internet of Things, Riverbank Farming, Smallholder AgricultureAbstract
Ewedu (Corchorus olitorius) is a nutritionally and economically vital leafy vegetable in West Africa, yet dry-season cultivation on riverbank plots remains constrained by manual, intuition-driven irrigation that is labour-intensive and agronomically imprecise. Existing smart irrigation systems are poorly suited to this setting, as they typically assume mains electricity, reliable internet, and technically skilled users conditions largely absent on West African riverbank farms. To address this gap, we designed, built, and field-tested a low-cost, solar-powered IoT irrigation system that uses real-time capacitive soil moisture monitoring to automate ewedu irrigation for smallholder farmers. The system integrates an ESP32 microcontroller running crop-specific hysteresis logic, a 12V DC pump and micro-sprinkler network powered directly from a solar-charged battery bank (eliminating the inverter stage), and a farmer-friendly web dashboard usable both online and offline. Gravimetric calibration of the moisture sensor achieved a mean R² of 0.975. Field testing established an irrigation hysteresis band of 22–25% volumetric water content (VWC) for pump activation and 35–38% VWC for deactivation. Over a 42-day trial, the solar subsystem maintained a mean battery state of charge of 50%, with no low-battery events, against average daily consumption of 40 Wh. A recruited farmer completed all seven user-acceptance tasks unaided, rating ease of use at 4.6/5.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Izuchukwu John Okafor, Afeez Adewale, Olawale Olugbenga Olarewaju, Mobolaji Oluyimika Omobowale
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