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Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) is an important vegetable and spice crop belongs to Solanaceae family which grown all over the world. Dried pods contain 36 gms of carbohydrates, 18 gms of proteins, and excellent source of vitamin A and vitamin C which together provide roughly 160 calories of energy per 100 gms (Narayanan et al., 1999). Area, production and productivity of Chilli in India was 7.43 Lakh ha, 19.14 Lakh Tonnes and 2576 kg/ha, respectively (Anonymous, 2018). Keeping in mind, above parameters the performance of tractor operated boom sprayer was tested on Chilly crop. Under laboratory conditions, the designed boom sprayer performed excellently at 0.90 l/min nozzle discharge and 689.5 kPa operating pressure. It was observed that droplet size, spray uniformity, and droplet density was influenced by the nozzle discharge rate and pressure of 0.45, 0.70, 0.90, and 1.35 l/min and 275.8, 413.7, 551.6, and 689.5 kPa, respectively. The Volume Median Daimater (VMD), Uniformity Coefficient (UC) and Droplet Density (DD) of the existing boom sprayer have 130.9-206.36 µm, 0.98-1.39 and 11-27 number of droplets/cm2, respectively, for nozzle 0.9 lpm and pressure 689.5 kPa. The modified sprayer has droplet sizes between 125.04 and 181.42 m, droplet densities between 16 and 27 number of droplets/cm2, and uniformity coefficients between 0.99 and 1.25 at nozzle discharges of 0.90 l/min. With the 689.5 kPa working pressure and 0.90 l/min nozzle discharge, the designed boom sprayer offers notably higher discharge and nozzle pressure in each individual nozzle than the existing sprayer.

The population increases at an exponential rate as human society advances, and pollution is increasingly depleting the availability of resources such as water and land. All these problems are thought to require the use of smart agriculture. By reducing use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, smart agriculture could mitigate land pollution and increase the sustainability of agricultural practices while also greatly enhancing the agro-ecological environment, yield, and quality of crops. The steps to make agriculture smart are made possible through data and communication technology, which helps with automatic operation and cultivation. Moreover, advances in wireless communication protocols will bring agriculture to a more intelligent stage. This study provides an overview of IoT technology and its application in the smart agriculture industry to make crop production automatic and intelligent by assessing their architecture (IoT devices, communication technologies, and processing), their applications, and research timelines. The communication protocols that have established uses in agriculture are reviewed first in this article. Various wireless communication protocols such as WiFi, ZigBee, SigFox, LoRa, RFID, NFMI, Terahertz, and NB-IoT were summarized, and their applications in various fields were also studied. These protocols in smart agriculture can effectively and efficiently address environmental data, water saving, monitoring of animal behavior, accuracy, power efficiency, cost reduction due to low power consumption, accuracy, wide transmission, simple in operation and cost effective. The most commonly used microcontrollers are Arduino (to develop autonomous machines), Raspberry Pi (to store data), and 8-bit microcontroller (to process data). In addition, it is important to take advantage of modern communication technology to enhance crop production. This study also examines the future opportunities and trends for IoT applications in smart agriculture, along with the ongoing challenges and issues that need addressing. Furthermore, it provides crucial insights and guidance for future research and the development of IoT solutions. These advancements aim to improve agricultural productivity and quality while facilitating the transition to a more sustainable agroecological future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficient and effective application of fertilizers to crops is a major challenge. Conventionally, constant rate or equal dose of fertilizer is applied to each plant. Constant rate fertilizer application across entire field can result in over or under incorporation of nutrients. Fertilizer application is influenced by soil parameters as well as geographical variation in the field. The nutrient management depends on selection of nutrient, application rate and placement of nutrient at the optimal distance from the crop and soil depth. Variable rate technology (VRT) is an input application technology that allows for the application of inputs at a certain rate, time, and place based on soil properties and spatial variation in the field or plants. There are two approaches for implementing VRT, one is sensor based and another is map based. The sensor based approach; with suitable sensors, measures the soil and crop characteristics on-the-go calculating the amount of nutrients required per unit area/plant and micro controlling unit which uses suitable algorithms for controlling the flow of fertilizer with required amount of nutrient. In map based approach; Grid sampling and soil analysis are used to create a prescription map. According to the soil and crop conditions, the microcontroller regulates the desired application rate. The sensor-based VRT system includes a fertilizer tank, sensors, GPS, microcontroller, actuators, and other components, whereas the map-based system does not require an on-the-go sensor. Both approaches of VRT for fertilizer application in orchards and field crops are reviewed in this paper. The use of this advance technology surely increases the fertilizer use efficiency; improve crop yield and profitability with reduced environment impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]