TITLE:
Autonomous Smart Device for Managing Irrigation, Fertilization, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Plants in Urban Agriculture
AUTHORS:
Mamour Gueye, Ababacar Sadikh Faye, Jupiter Ndiaye, Mame Andallah Diop, Youssou Traore, Oumar Diallo, Ousmane Sow, Mamadou Wade
KEYWORDS:
Digital Technology and Agriculture, Artificial Intelligence (AI), IFDT (Irrigation, Fertilization, Diagnosis and Treatment) Smart Plant Device, Urban Market Gardening
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Applied Sciences,
Vol.15 No.12,
December
18,
2025
ABSTRACT: In Senegal, given the limitations in terms of precision, speed, and mandatory presence requirements associated with traditional farming methods, digital technology plays a remarkable role in the rigorous execution of important tasks. This document presents the development and various tests carried out on a prototype. This device incorporates a combination of electrical, electronic, hydraulic, and computer resources. In addition, artificial intelligence (AI) based on machine learning is used to make certain tasks, such as monitoring, treatment, and, above all, plant diagnosis, more accessible, less complex, and more accurate. Here, automatic irrigation is based on soil moisture and the visual symptoms presented by the plant. Fertilization is based on the recommended periods according to the crop and the results of the diagnosis. In other words, if a nutritional deficiency is noted, intelligent and autonomous fertilization is carried out. The treatment of the plant against attacks is essentially based on the results of the diagnosis made by artificial intelligence. The model developed was obtained after training more than 14,000 tomato images (from the public data platform Kaggle, more specifically from Plantvillage) on AWS Rekognition. Our robotization solution can identify and treat various common tomato diseases, chosen as a test crop, such as tomato blight, bacterial spot, septoria leaf spot, and nutritional deficiencies. The results obtained during testing demonstrate that this intelligent platform for experimentation in teaching and research, and for use in urban market gardening, is a significant contribution of digital technology to agronomy. Indeed, with collaboration between agronomy and technology teams, this contribution is a valuable laboratory tool for applied research. Furthermore, local market gardening in urban areas, with its ecological challenges, is in line with sustainable development.