Agricultural Environment Monitoring System: Precision Management of Orchard Microclimate for Optimal Fruit Growth

In orchards, the growth and development of fruit trees are closely related to the surrounding microclimate environment. Factors such as temperature, humidity, light, and wind speed all affect the quality and yield of fruits. The Agricultural Environment Monitoring System helps fruit farmers accurately grasp the orchard microclimate.

Orchard microclimate refers to the special climatic conditions formed within the orchard range due to the presence of fruit trees, as well as the orchard's terrain, soil, irrigation and other conditions. Suitable temperatures enable fruit trees to successfully complete important growth stages such as flower bud differentiation, flowering and fruiting. Excessively high or low temperatures may cause physiological disorders in fruit trees, affecting the taste and appearance of fruits. When humidity is appropriate, the probability of fruit tree diseases and pests is relatively low, and the water content of fruits can also be maintained in a good state; however, if the humidity is too high, it is easy to breed fungal diseases and affect fruit quality. The duration and intensity of light determine the efficiency of photosynthesis in fruit trees, which is related to the accumulation of sugar in fruits. Wind speed affects gas exchange and heat transfer in the orchard. Moderate wind is beneficial to fruit tree pollination, but strong winds may blow off fruits and branches, causing losses.

The Agricultural Environment Monitoring System consists of three parts: meteorological sensors, meteorological data recorders, and meteorological environment monitoring software. Meteorological sensors can record various meteorological elements in the orchard in real-time. Temperature sensors can accurately measure the air temperature in the orchard, humidity sensors can quickly obtain air humidity information, light sensors detect changes in light intensity, and there are also wind speed sensors, wind direction sensors, rainfall sensors, etc. They transmit the collected information to the meteorological data recorder.

The meteorological data recorder aggregates and sorts out the data from the sensors and stores them at set time intervals. These data are completely recorded, forming a historical archive of the orchard microclimate. The meteorological environment monitoring software is a bridge between fruit farmers and the observer. Through terminal devices such as computers or mobile phones, fruit farmers can easily view real-time data and historical data charts with the help of the software.

It allows fruit farmers to keep abreast of meteorological changes in the orchard so that they can adjust agricultural operations in a timely manner. For example, when low temperatures are detected, fruit farmers can take cold prevention measures such as smoking and covering in advance to protect fruit trees from freezing damage; if humidity is high, fruit farmers can reduce humidity by strengthening orchard ventilation and reasonable irrigation to prevent diseases. By analyzing light data, fruit farmers can prune fruit trees reasonably, improve the light conditions in the crown, and enhance fruit quality. Under the early warning of excessive wind speed, fruit farmers can reinforce fruit tree supports in advance to reduce losses.