Agri-Electronics: A GREEN REVOLUTION for Nepal

Nepal needs no introduction. It’s the country of Mt. Everest along with a lot of other several natural gifts. So let me introduce Nepal naturally in brief once again. Nepal is a country which has a variety of natural resources in a large amount. Mountains, rivers, forests, animals, birds are gift of nature to Nepal. Since it is land with very rich natural resources, most of the population here (about 78% according to the mid yearly census report of 2063 B.S.) is involved in agriculture. So it is clear that most of the food (grains, vegetables, dairy products etc) consumed throughout the country is harvested in Nepal itself. But still the food is not enough for whole population. Why??

Now the point is why did I choose this topic then? Honestly, I’m fascinated about implementing engineering in Agriculture since my very childhood. And nowadays I saw many electronics engineering students doing their projects on agriculture related issues. Students are doing projects on artificial greenhouse automation, irrigation system, advanced poultry farm, automated farming etc. So I thought, if we commercially use these projects and implement it, I think our country will take a great leap in the path of success. I’m not writing this blog regarding my knowledge only. I’ve read several reports, articles and also I’ve interviewed many people to prepare this blog.

Farmers toil hard in the field to feed the world, but due to several consequences they are unable to yield the result they wanted. So in order to achieve that result, science and nature must unite. Agriculture engineers are there to design and develop equipments for agriculture. Then what is agri-electronics?

Why is it necessary?

Agri-electronics is an emerging and multi-disciplinary frontier of advanced research that takes convergent and holistic look at all the related areas in agricultural sector. It ensures optimal induction of IT and electronics for improvement in agriculture. [1]   This can create a sort of green revolution for the improvement of traditional agriculture system. In a country like Nepal , where more than 75% people are involved in agriculture, agri-electronics can be the turning point for agricultural development. The latest practice adopted worldwide is precision agriculture. It implies knowledge-based agriculture employing latest techniques of science and technology bringing both together diverse fields – agronomy, plant science, soil science, entomology, metrology, weed science, plant pathology, ecology, water technology, environment and economics- to deal with complex issues of production, distribution pricing and marketing.[1]

What can we do then?

We as an electronics engineers can develop efficient and economical systems for implementation in agricultural sector. To deal with all above tasks and complexities we can use software, embedded systems, sensors etc. Presently Nepal is lacking ICT experts for agriculture technology. So you can be the one. Various solutions can be developed in context of Nepal. Some of them are listed below.

·     Wireless plantation control system so that plantation can be done in extreme weather.

·     Database and proper online market for farmers.

·     Intelligent irrigation system for proper irrigation.

·     Artificial greenhouse control for various off-season vegetables and crops.

·     Quality sensor for soil. i.e. sensor that keeps eye on the quality (pH and other chemical factors).

·     Production control system to determine the accurate time of crop harvest.

·     ePest surveillance system

·     wireless sensor network for agricultural management

·     pest and fertilizer control system

·     Production surveillance system to keep eye on plant and their production from time to time.

These were some probable systems and solutions that can be done in case of Nepal. The world has marched much ahead than our imagination. Even our neighboring nation India too has marched ahead in the field of agri-electronics. They have used agri-electronics for almost every kind of agricultural tasks.

Some of the devices and systems they have developed are:

 (Note: all of these Indian systems are derived from EFY. 2011 ):

1.   Electronic nose for aroma characterization of tea:

It uses array of sensors to recognize a definite pattern of aroma. This is used in Tea industries for quality assurance of final product.

2.   Electronic Vision for tea:

It uses digital image processing to determine the color of fermented tea leaves during tea fermentation.

3.   Electronic tongue for Tea:

It compares the taste of tea for quality assurance.

4.   GSM based remote operation of agricultural equipment:

It uses GSM based cell phone to control various agricultural equipments like water pump, plant trimmer etc. It has interactive voice response system (IVRS) so that the farmer will get no problem using it.

5.   ePest surveillance system:

It collects data and plant samples from the farm in order to determine about the health of the crops.

6.   Plantation management using wireless sensor network:

This collects data about soil properties, agronomic data, physiochemical properties and searches similar property in internet or database and compares it with the most suitable farming in that sector. This can increase crop yielding.

WSN (wireless sensor network) can be used in irrigation control, fertilizer management and pest management.

If the world can march so fast in the field of agri-electronics, then why can’t we do it although we are in agricultural country? Can’t we use our skills and knowledge to improve Nepalese farming and farmer’s lifestyle? Time has come to think friends.. Let’s hope this GREEN REVOLUTION will soon start in Nepal and bring a new trend in Nepalese traditional agriculture system. I am ready to give my full effort for this green revolution. Are you ready???  This was all I could say.. Again please comment whatever you think about this blog. Thanks for reading. If    you like the blog pleae share it. for continuous update, please follow this blog. JAI NEPAL !!!!!!!! 

Reference:

1.   Dr. N. Bhattacharya. “AGRI-ELECTRONICS- The emerging Frontier of Advanced Research”. EFY. 2011

2.   Mid census report 2063, Nepal Statistics Bureau

3.   Ministry of Agriculture, Nepal

©Bishal Bhandari

CRYOELECTRONICS – “low temperature electronics”

Have you ever tested keeping your digital wrist watch in the deep freezer of the refrigerator? If not then let me tell you that the watch will stop functioning. Now a question may arise in your mind, Does this mean, people in north and south pole don’t use digital clock?? The answer is “NO”. They do put the digital watch. Now you think, if digital clock doesn’t function in low temperature then how does this happen? (Now you use your brain to find the reason, I’ll say the answer at the end of this blog  )

Now I think you all have got a little about what I am going to explain in my blog.

Do you know what the temperature at the space is? -150°C at the orbit of Jupiter, -230°C at the orbit of Pluto and below -55°C to -65°C at the moon, Mars and other asteroids. In this extreme low temperature, our conventional electronics is of no use. Thus researchers are pioneering a technology called “CRYOELECTRONICS” which is also referred as “Low temperature Electronics”.  Now what is CRYOELECTRONICS then?

Cryoelectronics is made up of the combination of two words. “Cryo” and “Electronics”, among which  ‘Cryo’ is again derived from greek word “kryo” which means ‘icy cold’ or ‘frost’. So simply we can consider cryoelectronics as the low temperature electronics. Generally cryoelectronics deals with the production of low temperature electronic devices. Cryoelectronic materials have high carrier mobility and gives high reliability in low temperature. Their temperature tolerance ranges from -150°C to -273°C. Examples of these devices include complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) diodes and field effect transistors (FETs).

Conventional electronics not useful for space, why??

As we now already know that space has extremely low temperature. All the research in spaces can be done only with the help of space ships. Electronics is very essential part of spacecraft as the spacecrafts needs sensors, cameras, wireless data transmitter, control systems. All of these are electronics devices and systems. Thus without electronics the space program is a body without the soul.

Now the point to see is, our traditional electronics which are made up of semiconductors works only between temperatures from -65°C to 125°C. But since our space has temperature more cold than -65°C, In such case our whole electronic system will not function. Thus there is necessity of such technology which can go beyond the extremity of temperature and perform. Thus the concept of Cryoelectronics arose.

One idea could help us to use conventional electronics in space. We can put thermal source for low temperature applications so that the device remains at the normal temperature despite of being of surrounding temperature. But this seems quiet impractical as we need more power to run those thermal sources. This will make electronic devices heavy, bulky and complex too.

How does Cryoelectronics work?

Cryoelectronic materials are generally derived from semiconductors like arsenic, germanium and gallium arsenide, CMOS, high temperature co-fired silicon, amorphous silicon and superconductors. Superconductivity is a state of matter in which the thermal, electric and magnetic properties of many elements, compounds and alloys become drastically changed from its original one when cooled to exceedingly low temperatures. Such elements become superconductor at such low temperature.

Hundreds of materials are known to become superconductors at low temperatures. Aluminium, Tin, Zinc, Lead, Idium, Mercury are few examples of elements which act as superconductors in their crystallographic forms at atmospheric pressure. Not only elements, but alloys and compounds like disilver fluoride or silver subfluoride (Ag2F), compound of carbon and potassium (C8K) and some semiconducting compounds like tin telluride (SnTe) can become superconductors if properly infused with impurities.

Applications

Nowadays cryoelectronics is widely being used in space programs. NASA - The most leading space agency in the world is also using cryoelectronics in development of various devices. NASA is now using semiconductor switching devices, magnetic capacitors, digital to analogue and analogue to digital converters (ADC and DAC)s, operational amplifiers, oscillators, control circuits, power circuits based on cryoelectronics.

Advantages of cryoelectronics are:

1        Increased circuit speed

2        Low power dissipation

3        Fast switching

4        High thermal conductivity

5        Reduction in thermally induced failures

6        Reduced operating power supply

7        Improved digital and analogue circuit performance (based upon noise margin, switching and gain band-width)

Due to these advantages cryoelectronics is nowadays applied in outer space satellites, cosmic radiation detectors, UV (ultraviolet) and IR (Infrared) ray detectors, medical instruments, high speed circuits, dynamic Random Access Memories (RAMs) and organic electronics.

Nowadays many people are involved in more improvement and further research on cryoelectronics. You can also choose your career in the field of cryoelectronics. Best of Luck.

If you like the post, please share to your friends and please comment so that I can detect my good points, else too please comment so that I will know my faults.

(Answer Of question asked in the first paragraph:

It is explained in Why conventional electronics will not work’s last paragraph. The watch is always put on wrist. No matter whatever the outer temperature is, your body temperature normally remains at 37°C i.e. 98°F, thus our body will act as thermal source for the watch and keep it in normal temperature. Thus the watch works.)

Reference:

Adkoli, V.R.  “Low temperature Electronics for space.” EFY.2012

©Bishal Bhandari

Are you safe from Mobile Radiation??

CAUTION: I’ve written various articles, but among those all this is the only one which you must read very carefully as it directly involves with human life. It seems long but if you read carefully, u’ll feel great. I promise you full satisfaction reading this.

Cell phone is nowadays the most common electronic device that every person owes. In Nepal, the count of people using cell phone is already above 8 millions. This count is increasing day by day in a rapid speed. The direct and indirect contribution of cell phones to the growth of economy is really unquestionable, but at what cost? This has been a relevant question these days. The ill effect of cell phone is bringing a giant health problem very soon. You may think, Wi-Fi, FM transmitter etc too causes radiation, but why am I talking only about mobile phone? I think you all know the answer. Honestly, it is because almost everyone reading this has a cell phone. Ha ha…

No more jokes apart. Actually nowadays cell-phone has become a part of every individual’s life. So we cannot ignore its effect as this is causing a serious health problem in whole mankind. Thus I’m tryong to explain its fact to whole public.

How did this issue arise?

Research on radiations due to Electromagnetic (EM) waves was started at the time of Second World War in limited way. It was noticed that birds sitting on antenna of warships died. They didn’t just die but were found in roasted form. Since then the effect of EM waves is being researched. In present context too, the numbers of mobile antennas are increasing in cities. Due t this various kinds of birds are dying so rapidly that their species are rare to find now. In context of Nepal, Sparrows are rarely found nowadays in cities. This is due to radiation. Not only the huge antennas on the top of the roof, the antenna inside mobile [generally inbuilt internal antenna (technically called patch antenna)] also emits radiation. They do affect Human health. So what are the effects of the radiation then?

Effects on Human Being:

 The main effect of Mobile radiation is due to extreme power radiated than the given standard. Only limited power radiation can be transmitted by a telecommunication company as per the standard. These standards are set by International Telecom Union (ITU) based on the thermionic emission. All the telecommunication companies are given standard Electro-Magnetic Field (EMF) levels.

Electromagnetic waves contain energy. Depending upon energy levels received by Human body , these can be categorized into two types. High Energy level and Low Energy level. The high energy levels of EM waves directly split the cells in Human body but the low energy level can’t. Due to this many people are reported to have Cancer due to radiation. According to a survey made in Europe, a person is safe if he is exposed only 20 minutes a day to the radiation.

 It was survey in case of Europe. In Nepal, our telecommunication providers instead of adding a new BTS (Base Sub-Transmitter), they add power in existing ones creating more radiation. Now you think what will be the health of person who has a telecommunication tower on his roof top? He is 24 hour exposed to the radiation. 

Key points to minimize radiation:

So, what shall we due to minimize these effects in all mobile users? Here we go. I’ve listed some of the measures to be followed to reduce the effect of radiations.

1.      Minimize the time you speak on mobile phone

2.      Minimize the intensity of the irradiation. i.e. avoid calling while the signal is weak, because then the mobile radiates the most.

3.      Keep the mobile phone as far as possible from your body.

4.      Avoid putting your mobile in your shirt’s left pocket as it affects the heart directly.

5.      Use Headsets or use phone in Loudspeaker mode and talk by keeping the phone as far as possible from the head.

6.      Avoid carrying the cell-phone clipped to your belt, as it affects fertility.

7.      Buy cell-phone with low SAR (Specific Absorption rate) ratings.

(Note: Standard SAR is 1.6 watts per kilogram for head exposure and is 0.08watt per kg for whole body and 4 watts per kg for wrists, ankles, hands and feet. Standard SAR ratio is prescribed by IEEE (institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering))

8.      Buy cell-phone from reputed company so that at least the present day power levels are ensured.

9.      Keep cell-phone away while sleeping.

10.  Switch between the left and right side of your head when you are not using a headset.

11.  Pregnant women should be strictly prohibited from using cell-phone as it may affect the foetus.

12.  More attention should be given to Children as they are more susceptible to cell damage.

13.  Avoid unwanted calls.

14.  Use landline phone if your work requires a lot of telecommunication.

Once Great scientist Albert Einstein has too said, if all the bees die in world, then within two months whole mankind will too come to an end. So think about it. And take up your responsibilities to save bees, birds and also human from radiation. This was all I could help and explain you. For more details you may refer various journals from reputed universities.

Once again, If you liked the post then tell others, else tell me. I’ll try to improve more in future. Thanks for reading. 

Reference:

Selvaraj A. “How to avoid mobile radiation”. 2011. EFY

©Bishal Bhandari