Traditional rice cultivation, a vital source of sustenance in Thailand, is a process that unfortunately contributes to climate change. This lies in the fact that the process requires that water be 10 cm above the soil level for most of it, which is a significant amount of water for 13,793 square miles of rice fields. When the weeds and insects are soaked, they ferment, which gives off methane, a greenhouse gas, and adds to our climate crisis. Experts have suggested a new technique that involves both wetting and drying, reducing the amount of resources used and gases emitted. However, in order to use this technique, it increases the farmers’ workloads.
To create change, a team of students at the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Thailand Chapter, in collaboration with Thai Agricultural Innovation Trade Association and the Pathum Thani Rice Research Center to make an automatic water level control system that will assist in the wet and dry rice cultivation technique.
This control system uses LoRa technology, with sensor nodes, control nodes, gateways to turn the pump on and off, and web/mobile dashboards. The sensors are set up around the rice fields to track their water levels. They control the pump, which controls water levels to support the wet and dry technique.
The project will be continued and supported by the Thai Agricultural Innovation Trade Association and the Pathum Thani Rice Research Center upon its completion.
This project was made possible by a $4,000 grant from the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society, an EPICS in IEEE partner society.