An important advantage for applying the right amount of water to the fields is provided by the effective irrigation management techniques based on soil moisture monitoring. With a calibrated and exact resolution of 0.03m3/m3 and 36 mV, the developed MPF5 moisture meter monitors soil moisture from a depth of 10 cm to 80 cm using a set of sensors, transducers, capacitors, resistors, and variable micro-switch. The response monitoring system compares the soil moisture to the user-specified target values and generates an alert if the soil moisture falls below the required level for particular crops. There were many similarities between the instrumentʼs output and that of other automated soil moisture meters like the REOTEMP-MM17 moisture meter and the PR2 capacitance moisture meter. The device works very well for both mineral and organic soils to monitor soil moisture for reliable irrigation scheduling.

Keywords: Soil moisture, MPF5 moisture meter, Irrigation scheduling, Crop, Mineral and organic soil