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Weather Agnostic Farming: An Innovative Revenue Generating Way to Protect Crops from Extreme Weather

CSEF · 2023 Environmental Engineering Honorable_mention Award

Maheskumar Nandana · 9

Overview

Food insecurity is a pressing issue because of the effects of unpredictable weather on crop yields. The recent weather events such as drought and rainstorms have had negative effects on farms. While we need to resolve global warming problems, it is equally important to embrace climate-resilient farming for improving efficiency. My design envisions the use of a programmable shield to supply plants with the required amount of sunlight, as well as protect plants from excess rainfall and extreme heat. My system will also collect uncontaminated rainwater, maintain soil moisture levels, reduce irrigation water usage, assist with groundwater replenishment, and generate additional revenue. My analysis of the Photosynthesis-Irradiance curve is that plants do not benefit by receiving additional sunlight after reaching the maximum photosynthesis rate. It is evident that incorporating a controllable shield which rotates to provide only the required amount of sunlight will help to maintain the photosynthetic functions in a plant. I have also conducted an experiment to evaluate the growth of three different plant types under various sunlight conditions. Building a working prototype displayed how the shield can transform to sunlight exposure, energy generation or rainwater collection mode based on sensor input. During experimentation, I discovered that plants receiving the required sunlight outperformed plants that received full sunlight. Additionally, I have used the XGBRegressor machine learning model to analyze the change in crop yield based on environmental factors. The implementation of my system can help improve crop yield during normal weather and protect plants during extreme weather conditions.

Source coverage

This record comes from a published award list, not a complete project archive. Its abstract comes from CSEF's public project showcase as archived by the Internet Archive before judging (https://web.archive.org/web/20230401224130/https://ca-csef.zfairs.com/showcase/ShowcaseInfo?f=838e60b7-ea75-46e8-865c-fde4864244b3); the version presented may differ.

Awards (1)

  • Category Award: HM

Competition history

  • CSEF 2023 Environmental Engineering · Entry S1122

Resources

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