Monitoring Root and Shoot Characteristics for the Sustainable Growth of Barley Using an IoT-Enabled Hydroponic System and AquaCrop Simulator

Vertical farming methods are gaining importance in the current era of urbanization and industrialization 5.0. These methods of farming enhance sustainability by consuming less space and reducing carbon emissions and greenhouse gas emissions. The Green Internet of Things (G-IoT) offers greater environmental sustainability by switching to a dormant mode while not in use, thereby consuming less energy. Each farming method has a different effect on the shoot and root growth of the plants. Thus, dedicated farming methods must be identified for each crop according to the type of crop under consideration. This leads to a need to compare and analyze the root as well as shoot growth trends of crops in different cultivation mediums, using different cultivation methods, thereby identifying the most suitable method for the cultivation of the crop. A comparative analysis of barley shoot and root growth in green IoT-embedded hydroponics and substrate cultivation methods has shown that hydroponics exhibits two times more shoot growth than substrate cultivation. Furthermore, the results were verified against the results obtained from the simulator, which confirmed that the hydroponic method of cultivation produced a year-round qualitative product with 17.112 tons of biomass and 8.556 tons of dry yield.

Automated summary

Vertical farming methods are becoming increasingly important in the era of urbanization and industrialization 5.0. They enhance sustainability by conserving space and reducing carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. The Green Internet of Things (G-IoT) improves environmental sustainability by consuming less energy. Different farming methods have varying effects on plant shoot and root growth, so it is necessary to identify the most suitable method for each crop. A comparative analysis of barley growth in hydroponics and substrate cultivation methods using G-IoT showed that hydroponics resulted in twice the shoot growth compared to substrate cultivation. The results were validated and confirmed the hydroponic method's ability to produce high-quality year-round crops.