MINI THESIS
SEM ENRICHMENT PROGRAMME
MARA JUNIOR SCIENCE COLLEGE TUN GHAFAR BABA
PLANTSE AS A DEVICE TO HELP FARMER
(ENGINEERING)
MEMBERS:
DANIAL ILHAM BIN SALAHUDIN (MJ214077)
NUR AZYUNI BINTI AZAM AIDID (MJ214246)
EMILYNE SOFEA BINTI MOHD RUZAIMI (MJ214087)
SUPERVISOR:
PUAN NOR IZZATI BINTI ISMAIL
2021/2022
1
“I declared that this thesis entitled “PLANTSE as A Device to Help
Farmers” is our own research except as cited in the references.”
Signature
:
………………………………………………….
Name
:
Danial Ilham bin Salahudin
Date
:
21/2/2022
2
“I declared that this thesis entitled “PLANTSE as A Device to Help
Farmers” is our own research except as cited in the references.”
Signature
:
………………………………………………….
Name
:
Nur Azyuni binti Azam Aidid
Date
:
21/2/2022
3
“I declared that this thesis entitled ‘PLANTSE as A Device to Help
Farmers” is our own research except as cited in the references.”
Signature
:
………………………………………………….
Name
:
Emilyne Sofea binti Mohd Ruzaimi
Date
:
21/2/2022
4
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................. 5
TABLE OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................. 6
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................................. 7
CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 8
1.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 8
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT ............................................................................................................. 9
1.3 OBJECTIVES .............................................................................................................................. 9
1.4 SCOPE OF STUDY ...................................................................................................................... 9
CHAPTER 2 : LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................................... 10
CHAPTER 3 : METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................................. 11
3.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 11
3.1.1 TYPE OF RESEARCH ....................................................................................................... 12
3.1.2 DATA COLLECTION ........................................................................................................ 12
3.1.3 ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................................... 19
3.1.4 TOOLS AND MATERIALS ................................................................................................ 19
3.1.5 FUNCTION ..................................................................................................................... 22
CHAPTER 4 : RESULT FROM RESEARCH ............................................................................................... 23
4.1 PROTOTYPE ............................................................................................................................ 23
4.1.1 DATA ............................................................................................................................. 23
4.1.2 VARIABLES .................................................................................................................... 24
4.1.2.1 WATER LEVEL ................................................................................................... 24
4.1.2.2 TEMPERATURE ................................................................................................. 24
4.1.2.3 SOIL MOISTURE ................................................................................................ 25
4.2 EFFECTS ON FARMERS ........................................................................................................... 25
CHAPTER 5 : DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................... 26
5.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 26
5.2 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................ 26
5.3 IMPLICATION ON RESEARCH .................................................................................................. 26
5.4 DESIGN ................................................................................................................................... 27
5.5 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................... 28
REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................................... 29
5
Table of Figures
GRAPH 1.1 MONTHLY PRODUCTION, EXPORTS, IMPORTS, DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION AND STOCKS
OF NATURAL RUBBER 2020/2021 ......................................................................................................... 8
FIGURE 3.1 FLOWCHART OF THE PROJECT ......................................................................................... 11
FIGURE 3.1.1 GOOGLE FORMS ............................................................................................................ 13
FIGURE 3.1.2 THE OTHER REASONS STATED BY RESPONDENTS ........................................................ 14
FIGURE 3.1.3 RESULTS FROM THE INTERNET RESEARCH ................................................................... 15
FIGURE 3.1.4 VISITING FARMER’S FARM TO COLLECT SOME INFORMATIONS ................................. 16
FIGURE 3.1.5 TIME FROM THE MAIN ROAD TO THE MAIN POINT OF THE FARM ............................. 17
FIGURE 3.1.6 THE MAIN ROAD ............................................................................................................ 17
FIGURE 3.1.7 THE MAIN POINT OF THE FARM ................................................................................... 17
FIGURE 3.1.8 THE CRACKED ROAD THAT MAY BE A PROBLEM TO THE FARMERS ........................... 18
FIGURE 3.1.9 THE CRACKED ROAD THAT MAY BE A PROBLEM TO THE FARMERS ........................... 18
FIGURE 3.2.1 TOOLS AND MATERIALS USED FOR THE PROTOTYPE .................................................. 20
FIGURE 3.2.2 SENSORS USED FOR THE PROTOTYPE ........................................................................... 21
FIGURE 3.3.1 HOW TO SET UP THE PLANTSE DEVICE ......................................................................... 22
FIGURE 4.1 HOW PLANTSE WORKS ..................................................................................................... 23
TABLE 4.2.1.1 WATER LEVEL ................................................................................................................ 24
TABLE 4.2.1.2 TEMPERATURE ............................................................................................................. 24
TABLE 4.2.1.3 SOIL MOISTURE ............................................................................................................ 25
FIGURE 5.1 PROTOTYPE DESIGN ......................................................................................................... 27
6
ABSTRACT
OBTAINING THE FERTILITY LEVEL OF PLANT
Danial Ilham bin Salahudin, Nur Azyuni binti Azam Aidid,
Emilyne Sofea binti Mohd Ruzaimi
Maktab Rendah Sains MARA Tun Ghafar Baba,
Jasin, Melaka
(1) Our project is important because it can prevent plants from
getting into bad conditions. Nowadays, plants are the service sector for
the food industry so with this kind of project we can make our food industry
become more successful. This project is about to create a plant model
system that can tell you the condition of your plants, such as the humidity
of the soil, surrounding temperature, pH level of the soil, and quantity of
an organic substance contained, and the information will be sent from the
plant model system to the farmer or gardener through the SMS. (2) So,
from this project, we can easily know our plant’s condition without going
to the plant's field. (3) All the sensors like sensors for soil humidity,
thermometer, and pH meter are connected with the motherboard and
together will be set in the box. So, the box will be put at any plants' field
and the power supply through the battery generates power from the solar
panel. (4) Based on the research, the project makes it easier for the
gardener or farmer to check the conditions of their plants although in the
long distance. (5) For the conclusion, it makes gardener and farmer work
easier but the cost for the plant model maintenance is high.
7
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Natural rubber production fell 8.2 percent in January 2021 to 45,735
tonnes, down from 49,825 tonnes the previous month, according to the
Department of Statistics Malaysia Official Portal. In a year-over-year
comparison, there was a 31.0 percent reduction. So, through this SEM
Type-III initiative, we hope to improve Malaysia's agriculture statistics.
Our project's benefit is that it can assist a large number of farmers and
gardeners, making their jobs easier and the agriculture sector more
prosperous. Our project's drawback is that we won't be able to create the
plant model systems in a timely manner because it needs time and
money. In addition, this project benefits the agriculture industry.
Graph 1.1 Monthly Production, Exports, Imports, Domestic
Consumption and Stocks of Natural Rubber 2020/2021
8
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT
1.2.1 Due to transportation issues, the farmer was unable to visit
the farm on a regular basis, resulting in plant damage that went
unnoticed.
1.2.2 Pandemics, such as COVID-19, have shown that
unanticipated events have an impact on farmers' activities, making
it more difficult to care for their farms.
1.2.3 Expensive fertilisers have become a burden to farmers
because they must be purchased on a regular basis.
1.3 OBJECTIVES
1.3.1 To make it easier for farmers to obtain information on the
health of their plants.
1.3.2 To make farming easier for farmers by eliminating the need
for them to return to their farm.
1.3.3 To save farmers money on fertiliser purchases because the
device will measure and deliver messages based on what the
plants require.
1.4 SCOPE OF STUDY
Our research is carried out according to the current situation in Malaysia.
We compare the plants production in this country for the past years to
determine the causes and effects. With that, we can come up with a
prototype to fix the consequences.
9
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
The previous projects that have been made usually work well, but they
are not as convenient as PLANTSE because our project can get all of the
results accurately in a single time because all of the data will be processed
and sent to the owner via SMS, whereas the previous project will send the
data separately, making the data difficult to interpret.
The research found that nowadays, it's hard for gardeners and farmers
to keep going and back constantly from their house to their farm or garden.
The farmer and gardener had to check their plant's condition frequently
such as the soil humidity, the surrounding temperature, and the pH level
around the plants. The majority of gardeners and farmers are complaining
that they had to spend a lot of money to do all of that including the
incidental costs such as transport, electrical, and water. Thus, with this
Plant Model System, you can keep updated with your plant's condition
without going anywhere and stay low cost. The service cost for the model
is also cheaper.
The Plant Model system will process the data from the indicators and
sensors such as a sensor for soil humidity, thermometer, and pH meter,
and the data will be processed and will be sent to the owner through SMS.
10
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
3.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter describes the methodology of how the PLANTSE
project is done. The process consists of five steps as stated in figure 3.1.
Figure 3.1 Flowchart of the project
11
1. TYPE OF RESEARCH
Before creating the prototype, we conducted descriptive research. We're
concentrating on figuring out what the farmers' issues are. We'll use our
prototype to figure out the best way to fix problems.
2. DATA COLLECTION
The research on the problems is conducted through three distinct method
which are survey, observation and case study.
-SURVEY
We used Google Forms to get feedback from respondents. Adults and
students at our school are the people who filled out the Google form. We
can get information on plantation difficulties from these surveys to assist
us improve our prototype. As a result, this strategy aids us in gathering
general viewpoints from non-farmers.
The graphic below shows the opinion and the point of view from the others
toward PLANTSE projects.
12
Figure 3.1.1 Google Forms
13
Figure 3.1.2 The Other Reasons Stated by Respondents
14
Figure 3.1.3 Results from The Internet Research
Graph shown the decrease of food resources since 2019 until now
Causes by:
• Covid-19 Pandemic
• High cost of fertilizer
• Transportation problem
15
-OBSERVATION
We're looking forward to seeing how things have changed over the years
in order to figure out what's causing the farmers' troubles. We keep an eye
on the present scenario in our country to see how it relates to the issues.
-CASE STUDY
In Jengka 8, Pahang, one of us went to a palm plantation area. From here,
we can learn more about the earth and its surroundings. The findings are
related to PLANTSE, our project.
Figure 3.1.4 Visiting Farmer’s Farm to Collect Some Information
16
• The watch shown the time from
the main road (second picture) to
the main point of the farm (third
picture)
• The farmer complains about the
distance from the farm from
house, take a long time to reach
the garden.
Figure 3.1.5
• Hot weather and rainy day are
parts of the problems to reach
the farm
Figure 3.1.6
Figure 3.1.7
17
• First and Second pictures, shown
the cracked road that may be a
problem to those farmers who are
going to farm with motorcycle. It
may risk to an accident.
Figure 3.1.8
Figure 3.1.9
18
3. ANALYSIS
From the data collected, we analyse all of them to produce one product
that can solve each of the problems. We identify the causes and effects
of the farmers problems. For example, climate changes, pandemic,
expensive fertilisers and transportation. Thus, we decided to produce a
prototype, PLANTSE which is multifunctional to help the farmers
overcome these issues.
4. TOOLS AND MATERIALS
For this project, we use several types of tools and materials in order to
produce a workable prototype.
- Water level sensor to detect the water level of the plants
- Temperature sensor to identify the suitable temperature for the
plants to thrive
- Soil moisture sensor to detect the humidity of the soil for the plants
to live on
- SIM900A which is the sim card slot so that the farmers could receive
information about their plants
- Battery as the main power source for our prototype
- Arduino Uno is made up of a hardware programmable circuit board
(also known as a microcontroller) and software, known as an IDE
(Integrated Development Environment), that runs on your computer
and is used to create and upload computer code to the physical
board.
Figure 3.1.1 and Figure 3.1.2 shows the details on the location of the tools
and materials and also the sensors together with the pictures of them.
19
Figure 3.2.1 Tools and material used for the prototype
20
Figure 3.2.2 Sensors used for the prototype
21
5. FUNCTION
Figure 3.3.1 explains further about our project, PLANTSE to show how it
is used to help in solving the problems faced by farmers.
Figure 3.3.1 How to set up the PLANTSE device
22
CHAPTER 4
RESULTS FROM RESEARCH
4.1 PROTOTYPE
4.1.1 DATA
Figure 4.1 shows the flow of the data obtained by our data. These steps
play important part in solving the main problem faced by farmers which
is far location.
Figure 4.1 How PLANTSE works
23
4.1.2 VARIABLES
PLANTSE, our prototype, has three types of sensors: a water level
sensor, a temperature sensor, and a soil moisture sensor. All these
sensors are crucial for recognising variables that may have an impact on
plants at the farm.
4.1.2.1 WATER LEVEL
Code
Green
Yellow
Red
Water Level Elevation (M)
0.0 – 0.19
0.20 – 0.49
0.50 – 1.00
Table 4.2.1.1 Water level
• This is to give a sign if there any flood happened
4.1.2.2 TEMPERATURE
Plants
Temperature (°C)
Citrus
13-38
Banana
24-35
Onion
12-23
Table 4.2.1.2 Temperature
24
4.1.2.3 SOIL MOISTURE
Crops
Water level (mm) needed daily
Citrus plant
4.2
Banana plant
7.2
Onion plant
6.0
Crops
Water level needed (mm/total
growing period)
Citrus
900-1200
Banana
1200-2200
Onion
350-550
Table 4.2.1.3 Soil Moisture
4.2 EFFECTS ON FARMERS
The primary reason for us to create this technology is to assist farmers.
We incorporated appropriate data into our prototype based on our
research to make it easier for farmers to care for their plants. As a result,
even though they have not visited the farm in a long time, they do not
need to be concerned about their plants.
PLANTSE will detect any improper circumstances for the plant and
convey the information to the farmers through SMS right away. As a
result, farmers may respond promptly before their plants deteriorate.
We may conclude from our prototype that farmers can spend less time
on the farm and save more money by not using any form of
transportation to get to their farms. Not only that, but farmers may now
be alerted on the state of their plants at any time, allowing them to
produce more products of higher quality.
25
CHAPTER 5
DISCUSSION
5.1 INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, we'll talk about our prototype and see if it meets our
goals, as well as try to discover the best material at a lower cost so we
can save money.
5.2 DISCUSSION
Based on our research, we could conclude that our project can help
farmers and gardeners. On other hand, our project can help to increase
the food sources for living such as paddy, palm oil, etc.
5.3 IMPLICATION OF RESEARCH
If our project can be taken to a higher level we believe that it will be such
a great opportunity to the society in helping to keep the food and
agriculture sources.
We believe that with the support of respected Malaysian colleges such
as UITM, UIA, and others, our base prototype may be improved and
made more commercially viable.
Our target market is for those who has a big farm and garden that need
fully attention to ensure the quality of the plants so we can strongly
believe that our research can help to improve the food and agriculture
sources.
26
5.4 DESIGN
This is the actual product design that we want to present. This style is
more durable and suited for use on the farm or in the garden. Wind,
extreme temperatures, and rain are not a problem for this design. The
product has two buttons on the front. The water level sensor on the left
can detect whether the water level rises, which could result in a flood,
and the soil moisture sensor can determine the soil moisture. On the top,
the temperature of the surrounding area is displayed.
Figure 5.1 Prototype design
27
5.5 CONCLUSION
This project aimed to help notify the farmers about their plants in a quick
and easy way. It is declared that this device is able to help ease the
farmers' works. In addition, this project has also helped the farm stay in
control. While there's still some imperfections in this project that we are
still working on, this project still can provide the best solution to the
farmers' problem. To better understand the implications of this project,
future studies could do more research and upgrade the project with better
technologies used. In the end, this project still can prevent the plants from
getting bad so that the food supply will not decrease.
28
REFERENCES
• https://dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=73
&bul_id=Z1dlbzlVZ04wWXFpMVh6Y29nMm9uUT09&menu_id=Z0
VTZGU1UHBUT1VJMFlpaXRRR0xpdz09
• https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accessio
n=toledo1509217475534338&disposition=inline
• https://www.vanwalt.com/news/2015/04/08/why-do-we-need-toknow-the-soil-moisture-content-of-soil/
• https://www.plagron.com/en/grow-topics/temperature
• https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/electropeak/complete-guideto-use-soil-moisture-sensor-w-examples-756b1f
•
Abebe, Yibekal Alemayehu (University of Pretoria, 2010-06-07)
Soil Humidity
• Milan K C, (2017), Applicability of Soil Moisture Sensors in
Determination of Infiltration Rate, The University of Toledo
• Richard A. Kowalezyk, (1967), The Effect Of Soil Moisture Stress
On Growth And Flowering Of Carnations, Colorado State
University.
• Veena Sangwan (2000), Temperature sensing in plants, McGill
University.
29