Aeroponics for Orchids

Aeroponics for Orchids SURAM HAZARIKA 1

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Aeroponics for Orchids

A Thesis Submitted In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Design by

Suram Hazarika, 17119015

to the Design Programme Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

June, 2019 3

Certificate

It is certified that the work contained in the thesis titled “Aeroponics for Orchids�

by Suram Hazarika has been carried out under my supervision and that this work has not been submitted elsewhere for a degree.

Dr. Satyaki Roy, Head, Media Centre, I.I.T. Kanpur June, 2019

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Author’s Declaration

I, the undersigned, hereby declare that this submission is entirely my own work, in my own words, and that all sources used throughout the research process have been fully acknowledged and all quotations properly identified. It has not been submitted, in whole or in part, by me or another person, for the purpose of obtaining any other credit /grade /degree. I understand the ethical implications of my research, and confirm that this work meets the requirements of the Design Programme, IIT Kanpur.

Suram Hazarika 17119015

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Acknowledgements

Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my guide Prof. Satyaki Roy for the continuous support of my thesis study and research, for his patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge. I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for my Master’s thesis.

Besides my advisor, I would like to thank Dr. Ramgopal, Badal Gurung and Shristi Sharma for making my trip to Pakyong an educational experience.

My sincere thanks also goes to Prof. Mainak Das for his advice during the initial stages of my project and Neeraj Ji from Kritsnam for his valuable time and guidance during the coding process. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to Shailendra and the other department staff for their support and help while fabricating the prototype.

I thank my fellow batchmates from the Design Programme: Ananya, Anshu, Anvay, Abhay, Amit, Indra Raj, Paras, Payas, Pranisha, Sandeep, Shreya, Somorjit, Srinath, Ujjawal and Vijay for the stimulating discussions, for the sleepless nights we spent working together before deadlines, and for all the fun we have had in the last two years.

Last but not the least, I would like to thank my family and my friends for having supported me throughout this endeavor.

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Abstract

Floriculture has grown to be an industry with immense potential over the last few years. The global trade in the cut flower trade of orchids alone in 2012 amounted to around 3594 crore rupees. The demand for the flowers in India has grown with time.

With the orchid growing industry in India still in its nascent stages, this demand has been met with imports from Thailand and the Netherlands. The import of cut orchid flowers in India grew tenfold from the period between 2008-2015. As such, development of new technologies for high volume production, scientific cultivation, modern post harvest techniques and effective marketing strategies for the domestic growth of orchids is of immense need. This thesis will explore the potential of cultivating orchids hydroponically in controlled environments using sensor based automation to maximise yield and guarantee quality control.

Keywords

Orchids, Hydroponics, Modular, India

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Table of Contents

Certificate

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Author’s Declaration

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Acknowledgements

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Abstract

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Table of Contents

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1 Introduction

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1.1. Aim 1.2. Scope 1.3. General character of research 1.4 Structure of thesis

2 Literature Study

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2.1 Commercial floriculture 2.2 Orchids 2.3 Hydroponics

15 23 29

3 Case Studies

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3.1 NRC- Orchids, Pakyong 3.2 ICL Flora Exotica, Guwahati

35 41

4 Problem Identification

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5 Design

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5.1 Concept 5.2 Proof of Concept Prototype 5.3 Fabrication 5.4 Controller Design

50 52 58 65

6 Final Design & Testing

12 12 13 13

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6.1 Objectives

74 8

6.2 Parameters 6.3 Performance 6.3 Problems identified 6.4 Future testing

74 75 76 76

7 Growing Plants for System

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7.1 Germination 7.2 Transplanting

77 80

8 Indoor Farm Design

82

9 Cost Benefit Analysis

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9.1 Approximate Cost of Project 9.2 Estimated Revenue from Model

10 Conclusion

85 87 90

10.1 Major findings 10.2 Limitations of study 10.3 Future scope

90 91 91

Bibliography

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Appendix - I

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01

Chapter 1

Introduction

Floriculture has grown to be an industry with immense poten-

tial over the last few years. The global trade in the cut flower trade of orchids alone in 2012 amounted to around 3594 crore rupees (NRCO, 2015). The demand for the flowers in India has only grown with time. With the orchid growing industry in India still in its nascent stages, this demand has been met with imports from Thailand and the Netherlands. The import of cut orchid flowers in India grew from roughly 3 crore rupees in 2008-09 to over 340 crore rupees in 2014-15 (Khuraijam J.S, 2017).

As such, development of new technologies for mass production, scientific cultivation, post harvest techniques and marketing strategies for the domestic growth of orchids is of immense need. Providing such resources can help India generate both employment in the agrotech industry besides income from the export market.

Establishing state of the art practices in the rapidly booming agriculture industry can be a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs willing to contribute to the country’s development and economy.

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1.1

Aim Orchids are plants that require immense care throughout their life which is why they are best grown indoors, in polyhouses or under shade nets. They require a carefully planned nutrient delivery cycle and frequent misting to maintain high levels of humidity. As such, High Pressure Aeroponics is a field of particular interest since it allows the fulfilment of all the aforementioned parameters and allows for stringent quality control. Further, if this process could be automated and made scalable, it would be feasible to grow orchids closer to centres of demand thereby minimising transportation costs and losses incurred during transit. These are the founding insights on which this paper is based.

This thesis will attempt to explore the various possibilities of growing orchids in modular units which use aeroponics for nutrient delivery and sensor based input to maintain the optimal parameters for the growth of the plants.

1.2

Scope The scope of the thesis will include the design and monotoring of an orchid cultivation module. An attempt will be made to grow various types of orchid plants of varying maturity in a controlled environment while being fed through a high pressure aeroponic system in order to assess the feasibility of such a project scientifically as well as commercially. An attempt will be made to grow other varieties of plants as well so as to ascertain the efficiency of the system in growing multiple varieties in spite of contrasting requirements. These plants will be startedfrom seed using methods that will later be replicated in a large scale setting.

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1.3

General character of research Research has been conducted on the global and domestic floriculture industry and trade conducted, existing problems in infrastructure and logistics of the export supply chain in India, general botany, orchids in particular,, high pressure aeroponic system design, micro controller design and sensor based automation. Though study has been conducted on a diverse range of topics, an attempt has been made to create a product that ties everything together.

Case studies have been conducted at the NRC-Orchids and ICL Flora Exotica, the former being a Central Government funded research centre and the latter being a privately owned commercial orchid farm. The final design has been conceptualised keeping in mind all the insights generated throughout the various stages of research and studies. The final step has been the monitoring of the HPA setup and the health of the transplanted plants in it.

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Structure of thesis The thesis begins with a literature survey on the three main topics pertaining to the project : the economic aspects of floriculture trade, orchids and hydroponics in general. This leads us to the third chapter, outlining the findings from two on-field case studies, one at the National Research Centre for Orchids at Sikkim and the other at ICL Flora Exotica, a privately owned and operated orchidarium based in Assam.

We come to have a broad understanding of the problem statement and possible approach by the fourth chapter. The fifth chapter covers the design process and explains the concept of the model. The sixth chapter leads us into the fabrication process of the physical prototype and discusses the development of the control device for the apparatus. The final design has been evaluated in the seventh chapter following which is a section on germinating and getting plants ready to transplant

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in the prototype. Then, a hypothetical model of a typical indoor farm has been proposed in the following chapter. Now that the design is ready, a cost benefit analysis of such a model under hypothetical conditions is discussed. leading us to the conclusion and end notes.

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02

Chapter 2

Literature Study

Understanding the economics that regulate any field is crucial

to gaining a foothold in it. In order to understand the commercial side of floriculture and the potential for growth in this domain, research has been conducted into the current scenario of the floriculture ecosystem in both domestic and international markets. We also explore the issues in the logistics of export of agricultural produce.

Thus the first section is an overview of market studies conducted by the APEDA and other organisations on the topic. In the next section, we will take a closer look at Orchids as a family and look at the various nuances of cultivating, growing, harvesting and post-processing the flowers. The last section from this chapter serves as an introduction to hydroponics as a whole.

2.1

Commercial floriculture In order to understand the market for floriculture products, we will refer to market research papers by organisations such as APEDA. The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) was established by the GOI under the APEDA Act,1985. It works in the development of industries pertaining to

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the export of agricultural and processed food by providing financial assistance, or by means of conducting surveys and feasibility studies, market research, investments or participation through subsidy/relief schemes. The APEDA has conducted multiple studies to explore the potential of the North Eastern Region (NER) to contribute to domestic agricultural exports. Under their directive, Sathguru Management Consultants, Hyderabad have come up with a “Comprehensive Master Plan for Tapping The Export Potential of North Eastern States�. This document is available at the website apeda.gov.in under Study Reports. This document has been very helpful in understanding some important aspects of floriculture in the region.

The objective of this study is to identify agricultural products from North East India which offer great potential for boosting exports. This was done by generating a list of products with the highest export potential from these states. After identifying and shortlisting of products, validating and understanding current status, data analysis and identification of bottlenecks, an actionable strategy plan was drafted. According to this matrix from the mentioned report, cut flowers were recognised as the 8th most profitable product in the final list was generated with a score of 3.1 as compared to the highest score of 3.5 (APEDA, 2015).

Table 1 : Ranking Matrix for shortlisting products for further analysis19

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As we can see from the table above, cut flowers score very well in brackets such as economic value of product, comparative advantage of the region as well as international demand for the product. However, it doesn’t do well in areas such as current production levels and amount of surplus generated since it lacks the infrastructure and ecosystem for profitable trade. All of this could be compensated by investment in high yield hydroponic systems.

The report further claims that the climatic conditions and topography of the NE region is suitable for floriculture. The region already has an exhaustive abundance of endemic flora and fauna. Out of approximately 1300 species of Orchids found in India, more than 800 species are from this region alone. This provides a lucrative investment opportunity in the field of commercial floriculture in the NorthEast region. At present, only 0.1 % of the total area in the region is under use for flower cultivation.

Production Sikkim, Nagaland, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram are the primary growers of flowers in this region. There has been discernible growth in the industry, however, India is far behind developed markets such as those in the Netherlands, Thailand and Malaysia. One of the major issues is the yield per hectare. The period from October to December is the most important in terms of production. The North East Region accounted for over three and a half thousand metric tonnes of loose and cut varieties on around one and a half thousand hectares. This represents only 4.5% of the national growth volume. The following table highlights the key flower producing districts in the region (APEDA, 2015).

Table 2 : Key flower producing districts in NER19

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Propagation Most farmers in the North East are either not aware of efficient methods of propagation such as tissue culture or do not possess the resources to practice the same.

Thus, most varieties are propagated by methods such as bulb division, back bulb or offshoot method. All these methods take well over six to ten months to flower. Modern practices such as tissue culture provide an efficient, trustworthy method rapidly multiply stock while keeping minimising threat from pathogens and pests. However, it would necessitate the availability of a tissue culture lab and trained technicians to operate the same.

Seasonality

The flower varieties found here are the ones that thrive under cool and humid subtropical conditions. The ideal conditions for most flowering plants are warm and humid summers for growth and cool winters for flowering.

Supply Chain

Once picked from the fields, the flowers have their stems cut under water and are sent in makeshift packaging to local aggregators. These aggregators pack the flowers according to size in corrugated cardboard packaging to be sold in local markets or sent to interested parties in metro cities.

However the volume of cargo that is airlifted to major cities outside of the North East is negligible. This is primarily because of a lack of intensive cultivation of flowers by either organized producers or entrepreneurs. If one were to set up a commercial farm anywhere in the NorthEast, after harvesting and packing the flowers, they would need to be driven by road to Guwahati or Imphal as a lack of direct connectivity to the region from other airports. Only from Guwahati airport could the cargo move to other major airports in the country for distribution or export. Anoth18

er important airport is Bagdogra airport at Sikkim which is the primary handler of cargo from Pakyong and other flower producing districts of Sikkim. However, most of these airports barring Guwahati and Kolkata do not have operational cold storage facilities further adding to the woes of exporters of perishable commodities such as flowers. In fact, one of the biggest challenges in the industry is the difficulty faced in the transport of cut flowers in the punishing Indian heat.

Figure 1 : Supply chain of cut flower trade in NER19

Current status of Exports

According to the report, floriculture products from India were exported to 105 countries in the year 2014-15. The United States of America is the largest market importing more than 5000 metric tonnes of produce valued at Rs. 98.13 crore. The UK and Germany are close behind. The Netherlands, widely known to be the world’s largest exporter of flowers with a rich history of floriculture also import a fair percentage of produce from India. This shows that given we raise the quality and volume of our produce, the market is open to trade for suppliers. It is also consistent with proven growth potential.

As we can see, there is tremendous potential for growth in the floriculture industry which can prove beneficial to the regional and domestic economy. The following section is an outline of another APEDA report from 2016 which explores and highlights the current problems in the export of agricultural exports in the country.

According to the report, India’s contribution to the export of the top three global commodities (alcohol, dairy and miscellaneous preparations) is less than 1 %. However, India’s potential in export commodities lies in the fruits, vegetables, meat, processed food and floriculture segments, given its production strengths.

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Agricultural Trade in India

10 % of the total Indian export volume is constituted of agricultural produce. In the year 2015-16 itself, India exported around 20 million metric tonnes of produce valued at over Rs. 1,12,403 crore (APEDA, 2015). Cereals constitute the largest segment in this figure contributing to around 60 % in terms of volume and 36% percent by value. Other categories include fruits and vegetables, processed food, animal products and floriculture. The pie charts below represent the shares of volume and value of the major contributors to the export market.

Table 3 : Volume and Value share of all categories in exports (2015-16)19

One can easily ascertain that though floriculture holds the tiniest share of the export market as compared to other commodities,its value is much higher relatively. Even with a 0.2 % share, it holds a value of over 1 % of total earnings, more than 5 times over. It seems to be an extremely lucrative market that no one wants a piece of.

If we look at floriculture individually, the global industry is valued at over Rs. 4,85,695 crore (APEDA, 2015). Though India holds the second position in flower production, next only to China, its contribution to the global trade is a paltry 0.33%.

The production and export data of the Indian floriculture segment for the period between 2013-16 has been shown in the table below:

Table 4 : Floriculture production and exports (2013-16)19

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The charts below further demonstrate the earning potential from floriculture by comparing the volume and revenue shares of floriculture products.

Table 5 : Volume and revenue share of floriculture products (2015-16)19

However, the lack of active participation, interest and investment is lacking in the segment because of certain deep rooted issues with the logistics of the supply chain.

Some key challenges have been outlined below.

Backward Integration • Quality and longevity issues arising from inefficient and unorganized backward integration.

• Import laws are becoming more stringent with importing countries often requesting for traceability and production norms at farm level.

• Agriculture is under the jurisdiction of the State government while exports are handled by the Central government. A lack of synergy is evident.

Unavailability of skilled/trained personnel at farm level • Unregulated practices at the farm level lead to compromised quality of produce.

• Unscientific harvest/post harvest practices decrease shelf life and quality of produce

Infrastructure and Logistics • The North East being a landlocked region faces tremendous difficulty in getting its products to ports. This is further heightened by the poor quality of the road network here leading to inferior connectivity in most places.

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Documentation • Especially relevant in floriculture, documentation becomes a major hassle because without the right identification documents, plants/flowers could take a long time to get quarantine clearance. Any discrepancy in the name of a specimen can lead to three to four weeks of delay in getting the appropriate clearances. Most officers at the clearance department are not experts in botanical classification further aggravating the issue.

Transportation Costs • Toll gates and interstate passes pose a great challenge as sometimes permits issued by certain authorities are not accepted in other places. Also, the royalty charged

by State governments upon issuance of transit passes may extend upto 100% of the cost of the products at some places, thereby making the produce non competitive economically.

Packaging • Packaging is another segment that needs to be explored as it adds significant value to the product while exporting. Quality packing material and practices need to be looked into.

Lack of infrastructure • There is a lack of cold storage options in most Indian airports. The facilities at Mumbai and Guwahati exist but are in poor condition with clients claiming fluctuations in the range of 4°C to 22°C. As such, it isn’t possible to store commodities such as fragile cut flowers in such facilities for long periods of time. A power cut could resul;t in the loss of an entire shipment.

We can see that India lags behind in many key aspects necessary in dealing with the perishable goods export markets of today. Innovation will be as important as embracing new, emerging technologies in order to leverage future potential in this industry. The next section will be an introduction to Orchids and their cultivation.

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2.2

Orchids

Picture 1 : White Moth Orchids in bloom

Scientific Classification

Kingdom : Plantae Clade : Angiosperms Order : Asparagales Family : Orchidaceae Type Genus

: Orchis

An introduction This segment will take a look at Orchids in particular among the various flowers that make up our production volume. The Orchidaceae is the largest family of flowering plants in the world with over 25000 accepted species spread across more than 750 genera. Though they can be found on every continent, the maximum number of species can be found in South America and Asia. Prized for their beauty, orchids are

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some of the most striking flowers in the flora world. Easily discernible from other flowers, orchids have an anatomical structure of their own (See Fig.2). Instead of separate sexual organs (anthers and stigma) found in other flowers, orchids have a single fused sexual organ known as a column.

Figure 2 : Orchid Anatomy15

All orchids share some shared characteristics, otherwise known as synapomorphies.

The flower is bilaterally symmetrical, resupinate flowers with highly modified petals and fused stamens and carpels. One of the most famous species is Vanilla, a crop of economic importance as its bean is used as a common flavoring agent. Besides the existing species in the wild, horticulturists have worked extensively on hybridizing these plants that has led to the existence of more than 100,000 species today. It is estimated that over Rs. 6,24,465 crore is generated in the world’s economy as a direct result of these fascinating flowers (Khuraijam J.S, 2017). In India, around 1300 indigenous species have been identified, of which many are of potential commercial value. There are two major orchid growing regions here, the Himalayan belt and the Western Ghats. The North eastern states and a few states in the South are the most ideal locations to cultivate orchids commercially, however the demand for the flowers has increased multifold all across the country. Selection of tropical varieties that grow in warmer climates is necessary in order to start cultivation in the Indo Gangetic plains and Central India. Development of innovative and affordable scientific tech24

nologies is required to reduce our imports from other Southeast Asian countries.

Orchids in floriculture trade Orchids are the highest selling flowers in the Indian cut flower trade. They are most commonly used as cut flowers for bouquets, arrangements and decorations during festive occasions or as potted plants for their aesthetic value and fragrance. The most popular varieties are Dendrobium, Oncidium, Phalaenopsis and Cymbidium, known for their beautiful, unique and long lasting flowers. Flowers worth crores are imported each year from the Netherlands and Thailand to meet the rising demand.

The major import centres for the flowers are the cities of Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. The import of cut orchid flowers in India grew from roughly 3 crore rupees in 2008-09 to over 340 crore rupees in 2014-15 (Khuraijam J.S, 2017). India has the potential to become a major player in the orchid industry with its ideal climatic zones and constant demand. However, lack of technical know how, proper planting material and techniques of growing high quality orchids are major hindrances in India. India’s climate is suitable for growing most tropical orchids. The North Indian climate is best suited for the brightly coloured, commercially viable species of Dendrobium varieties such as ‘Emma White’, ‘Sonia’ and ‘Thongchai Yellow’. A single cut bloom of the imported Dendrobium ‘Sonia’ can cost upto Rs. 50 with the price of a plant ranging from Rs. 500 to Rs 1000.

Production in North India North India has an extremely diverse climate with summer temperatures going above 40°C in the summers and dipping below 5°C in the winters. Though the land is fertile, it remains hot and dry for many months of the year. Adopting modern technologies will enable the production of healthy orchid plants using less water but maintaining high productivity of flowers. Using aeroponics will ensure that evaporative losses are reduced to a minimum.

Propagation Orchids can propagate sexually (by seed) or asexually (by vegetative propagation).

The latter is most commonly utilised because of its ease. There are five ways of

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accomplishing vegetative propagation: tissue culture, aerial cutting, division, keikis and back bulbs. Tissue culture propagation is a good option for skilled farmers that will allow for year round production, minimise labour costs and lead to more efficient post harvest technologies.

Cultivation Orchid cultivation requires a specific set of parameters including optimal temperature, humidity and light to be viable. Growing orchids in the hot dry climate of central India will require a great deal of care, knowledge and skill. Knowing which species to grow, the medium in which to grow, types of pots to be used, the method of cultivation and the type of shade house, polyhouse or enclosure is all information that is crucial for the commercial orchid farmer. The species’ best suited for the region are Dendrobium and Phalaenopsis (Khuraijam J.S, 2017). They both require medium light conditions with high humidity (60-80%) environments. The best growing medium are the bark of trees, charcoal and rice hull/husk. The growing medium has to allow drainage and retain less water. Orchids need just the right amount of water, too much or too little can be harmful for the plant. Perforated 6-8’ earthen pots are good for growing orchids. 1’ diameter holes in the sides are useful for aeration and also allow for the exposure of hanging roots to absorb moisture from the air. Both dome shaped and flat roofed shade houses can be used for cultivation. The roof needs to have a clearance of at least 8 m with the width depending on the number of platforms for keeping orchid pots. These platforms must be at elevated to at least 36 inches from the ground and can be made of iron, bamboo or wood. The roof is usually two tiered with a gap of at least 12-24 inches to allow for adequate ventilation. Overhead sprinklers and misting systems are often used to maintain required humidity levels.

Fertilizers Orchids in the wild absorb nutrients from their environment from sources such as decomposing leaves, animal droppings or any decaying matter. Cultivating orchids artificially requires regular feeding and timely nutrient delivery to ensure healthy plants and proper flowering cycles. Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium are vital 26

macronutrients. Nitrogen (N) is responsible for healthy vegetative growth, Phosphorus (P) is important for flower production and Potassium (K) is vital for control of flower and fruit development. Trace elements like iron, manganese and zinc are also required. The amount of feeding depends on the species, time of year and the general health of the plant. The ideal ratio of N,P and K during the growth stage is 30:10:10. This ratio changes to 10:30:30 (N,P,K) along with the addition of trace elements such as zinc, manganese, boron, iron, copper and molybdenum. The plants need to be fertilized once every 7-10 days. They should be avoided during periods of heavy rainfall. Fertilizers cannot be mixed with fungicides and insecticides (Khuraijam J.S, 2017).

Disease Control Some important pests that can cause damage to orchids are Scales, Grasshoppers, Aphids, Spider mites, Thrips, Cockroaches and Mealybugs. These are easily controlled by the proper administration of insecticides. The plants should be sprayed with insecticides every 7-10 days between 4 PM to 5 PM during the summer months.

Bacterial infections are another cause of worry and can cause rot in leaves and roots from which it slowly spreads to the rhizomes or pseudobulbs. These infections usually occur during warmer periods. The infection can be treated by removing the infected part followed by spraying the area with bactericides (Khuraijam J.S, 2017).

Harvest To prevent rapid respiration loss and excessive water loss, orchids must be harvested in mild weather, generally during dawn or dusk. Flowers remain turgid in the morning after undergoing transpiration at night and contain higher sugar levels, Similarly, if harvested in the evening, flowers retain higher amounts of stored carbohydrates thereby extending their vase life. Surgical blades or secateurs must be used to cleanly cut the stems at an angle without crushing the stem. The blossoms must be dipped in a bucket of water immediately after cutting.

Post-harvest There are many parameters that go into determining the vase life or longevity of a

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cut flower such as the length and diameter of florets, the openings of flowers, the diameter or length of stems or pedicel, changes in fresh weight, senescence pattern, colour of petals and foliage burning (De & Singh, 2016, De et al. 2014). A good quality cut stem will have a minimum of 8 blooms on it. Flowers should be evenly arranged and cover around two-thirds of the stem. The flowers should be firm and have a luminescent sheen. Stems must stand upright when held from the bottom and the diameter of the stem must be at least 10mm. (De et al. 2014) To increase longevity of the cut stems, flowers are pre cooled immediately after harvesting until they reach a certain desired temperature (Bhattacharjee, 1997).

This is followed by the hardening phase where the flowers are kept standing loosely in a large water container with enough space for air to circulate around their stems.

This step ensures that turgidity in the flowers is restored with water stress before storage and transport. To protect the water vessels from microbial growth and decay, the stems are impregnated with high concentration (1000 ppm - 1500 ppm) of silver nitrate, nickel chloride or cobalt chloride for 10-15 minutes. Some florists use a technique called pulsing where solutions containing sugars and germicides through the lower cut stems of the flowers. In some cases, orchids are harvested before the flowering phase to allow for easy transportation and to reduce stress on the plants.

Preservatives such as sugars, biocide or growth regulators can be used to open the buds of flowers (De & Singh, 2016).

Inference Orchids are a complex species with many parameters and constraints to consider when looking at the commercial aspect. However, with the right mix of technology and better practices at the ground level, we can take advantage of the natural bounty our country has to offer. Skilled labour and lab tested practices will enable us to take a step forward in the right direction, both from a commercial as well as a research point point of view.

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2.3

Hydroponics Hydroponics is the practice of soil less farming or cultivation. In this process, the roots of growing plants are suspended and directly exposed to water or nutrient solution with an inert media anchoring the plant instead of soil. There are many different types of hydroponic setups and techniques and media change from process to process.

Hydroponics can greatly reduce the usage of water used for cultivation when compared to conventional modes of farming and also use less nutrients. Since most hydroponic farms are situated indoors, there is also far less need of pesticides. It has been recognised as a viable way of growing exotic greens, leafy vegetables, edible flowers, microgreens and herbs. The controlled environments in hydroponic farms guarantee quality produce that is consistent in both taste and size. Highly efficient systems can double the growth rate of certain plants.

With the modern consumer getting overly conscious about where their food is coming from, hydroponic produce is growing popular by the day because of its traceability and quality in general.

History Hydroponics comes from two Greek words, “Hydro”, meaning water and “Ponos”, meaning work or labour. Together it meant to work with water. It was developed in the United States of America when it was converted from a science experiment to a viable method of cultivation. The U.S. Army used hydroponics as early as World War II to feed their soldiers on barren lands. By the mid-50’s, commercial hydroponic farms were springing up all over America, Asia, Africa and Europe.

Advantages •It can be used to grow off season crops and on any location.

•Complete control over all parameters pertaining to plant development.

• Water and nutrient wastage minimised through recycling.

• Faster growth due to enhanced oxygen levels in the root area.

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• No pests and contaminants from soil.

• Enhanced yields.

• No weeding required.

• Transplant shock is minimised.

• Using a hydroponic setup allows us to customise the height at which the plant is growing in order to increase accessibility and ease of operating while planting, harvesting or tending.

Disadvantages • Very high initial capital requirements.

• Skilled labour required to operate efficiently.

• Diseases may spread rapidly through such a system. However, this is not an issue with aeroponic systems.

Design The three basic components of a hydroponic system consist of :

a) Growing Substrate Even though hydroponically grown plants don’t require soil, they must still be anchored to and supported by a substrate. Porous, well aerated materials are generally preferred for this purpose, with materials such as rockwool and perlite being used as common substrates. A good substrate must provide support to the roots and feeding area, must be porous, it should be inert so as not to affect the nutrient solution and it shouldn’t clog up the system.

Examples: Pea Gravel, Sawdust, Perlite, Vermiculite, Rockwool, Expanded Clay Pellets (LECA), Coconut Fibre, Peat Moss, Oasis Cubes, Rapid Rooters, etc.

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b) Nutrient Solution The nutrient solution is the mixture of water and essential nutrients that is pumped or fed to the plants through the system. It contains macro nutrients such as Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P) and Potassium (K) besides secondary and trace elements such as Magnesium (Mg), Calcium (Ca), Sulphur (S), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), Boron (B) and Molybdenum Mb). Various concentrations of the nutrients are required during different times. Certain solutions work better to aid vegetative growth while others promote flowering. Hence, solutions and their use depend on the particular case at hand.

Many secondary additives such as root healers, flower boosters, flushes and clearing solutions are also used to enhance productivity and guarantee better yield.

c) Growing System Hydroponic systems may be categorized as closed or open, and as liquid or aggregate. A closed system is one where the water and nutrients are recycled and replenished while in an open system, water once delivered to the root system, is not used again. In a liquid system, the exposed roots have no supporting medium to hold their roots in place. In aggregate systems, some sort of solid support or medium is present to anchor the root. Some types of growing systems have been listed below:

• Nutrient Film Technique (NFT): Plants are placed with their root ends submerged in holes cut into UPVC tubes. Nutrient solution is constantly pumped through this tube proving a steady supply of oxygen and nutrients. (liquid + closed)

• Floating Hydroponics: With this technique, plants are grown on perforated rafts that float on large trays of water. (liquid + closed)

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• Rockwool Culture: One of the most common media used in hydroponics, plants are grown on a sterile fibre based material called rockwool. It is woven from thin fibres made from heated Basalt powder. It allows both aeration and moisture retention making it a highly appropriate material for hydroponics. (aggregate + open)

Hydroponic systems are further categorized into active and passive systems.

A classification of the various types can be seen below (Dunn, Bruce. 2013).

1. Passive systems use a wick with high capillary action in order to draw water to the plant roots. This model is the simplest form of hydroponics and doesn’t use any external energy for the delivery of nutrients.

2. Active systems are different as they use some form of external energy in order to actively pass nutrients across the plant root area. They may be of several types :

The Water Culture System : Simplest among the various active systems, the water culture system is composed of a lightweight tray on which the produce grow that floats on a chamber filled with nutrient solution. An external pump or air stone is used to add oxygen to the water.

The Ebb and Flow System is another variety where a pump connected to a timer controls the flow of nutrients. The chamber containing the roots is flooded and drained at regular intervals making sure that the roots get the right balance of nutrition and oxygen.

Drip Systems are some of the most commonly used hydroponic systems in the world. SImilar to the ebb and flow system, a pump connected to a timer controls the flow of nutrients. A main feeder line connected to multiple tertiary lines makes up the system. When the timer turns the pump on, the nutrient is passed from the feeder line to the connectors which then slowly 32

drip the solution by means of emitter plugs onto the roots of the plants.

Aeroponic systems are the latest type of hydroponic systems which are probably the most advanced form of hydroponics at this stage. This system delivers nutrients to roots suspended in mid air by means of a fine mist generated by a precisely timed pump.. This mist is sprayed onto the roots of the plants in short bursts ranging from 1 to 5 seconds every few minutes. Not only is this technique the most efficient in terms of utilization of resources (98% less water, 60 % less nutrients required), it is also the one that produces optimal conditions for plant development as the size of the spray is optimised for absorption by the plants. This process of nutrient delivery also ensures that there is no spread of pathogens from one plant to another. This is one of the biggest problems with standard hydroponic systems. Since the mode of nutrient delivery is through air, this system is also the closest to how Orchids absorb nutrition in their natural environs.

Another recent development in the field of aeroponics has been the use of foggers instead of high pressure pumps and nozzles. Some people call this technique Fogponics as it makes use of fog instead of mist.

The outer surface of Orchid roots are composed of velamen, a spongy epiphytic tissue that helps the Orchid plant to absorb nutrition from the humid environment it resides in. A hybrid system utilizing both Aero and Fog ponics could be an effective way of providing orchids with their nutrition in a controlled and efficient manner.

With a fair understanding of the components involved in the project, we will now look at a couple of on-site case studies to understand the current situation of orchid farming on the ground, here in India.

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03

Chapter 3

Case Studies

There are a number of orchidarium in India, both Government

funded and privately owned. This following chapter documents case studies conducted at the NRC-O, Pakyong (National Research Centre- Orchids) and ICL Flora Exotica, Guwahati. They have been selected as the NRC at Pakyong is India’s foremost research centre on orchids while ICL Exotica is one of the oldest privately owned orchidaria in the country with an annual turnover of over two crore rupees. An attempt has been made to describe the working conditions and processes employed by both orchidarium with inputs from staff, trained workers and scientists at both sites.

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3.1

NRC- Orchids, Sikkim

Picture 2 : The NRCO campus at Pakyong, Sikkim

The first case study was conducted at the National Research Centre - Orchids

at Pakyong, Sikkim. A beautiful campus located in the hills of Sikkim, the NRC is India’s foremost research centre on these exotic plants. The facility was established on the 5th of October 1996 by ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) in order to improve and commercialize the production of Orchids besides working on improving their quality.

During my visit there, my case study involved meeting the Director of the institute, talks with scientists involved in plant breeding, tissue culture and horticulture before a field visit with a skilled technical officer that involved examining the way orchids were being grown, maintained and studied at the institute. The following images show the polyhouses and the various ways in which orchids were being tended to.

The NRC-O at Pakyong was of special interest as besides the research that they were conducting on regular indigenous orchids from the NER, they were also actively ex-

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ploring alternative growing methods and hybridization techniques. The hydroponic lab here was the only documented one of its kind in the country. However, Dr. Ram Gopal (Senior Scientist, Plant Breeding) was of the mind that these techniques were best employed in regions where the climate was not conducive for the growth of Orchids. He also mentioned that it didn’t make much sense to use hydroponics since Orchids are already used to collecting moisture from the environment in high humidity settings. Hydroponics might impair that as they roots would be fully/partially submerged at all/some of the time. This sparked the idea of using aeroponics in my mind.

Pictures 3-5 : The hydroponics experimentation laboratory

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Pictures 6-8 : Different types of polyhouses at the Centre

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Pictures 8-9 : Propagation of Zygopetalum post tissue culture

Pictures 10-11 : Mixed cropping with Spinach for sustainable growth model

Picture 12 : An artificial fish tank within polyhouse for nutrient production (Aquaponics)

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Picture 13 : Protection from tissue damage

Picture 14 : Cultivation in bamboo trellis

Picture 15 : Vertical farming trial

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As one can easily tell, the NRC on Orchids is trying out many different ways to grow orchids besides performing extensive research on everything from plant breeding, genetics to commerce. By training more locals in the science of orchid farming, they hope to be able to extend its reach and make cultivation more accessible. We can already see this happening as many of the workers in the polyhouses happen to be locals.

Some key insights to take away from this site visit are:

• Tissue culture is the way forward for a high tech future proof farm unit. • Aeroponics could be the most viable hydroponic technique for orchid cultivation. • Orchids are delicate plants with thousands of varieties. No orchidarium is complete without skilled and trained technicians and workers.

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3.2

ICL- Flora Exotica, Assam

Picture 14 : Entry to India Carbon Ltd. Flota Exotica

The ICL Flora Exotica Pvt Ltd is a privately owned orchidarium based in the ICL

(India Carbon Limited) industrial park in Guwahati, Assam. It was started by Rakesh Himatsingka, the Chairman of ICL in the early 90’s. It is now a 7 acre farm with over 30,000 plants. Two months before the time of my visit, 12/02/19, the orchidarium had placed an order for 25000 plants from Singapore.These take the total tally to over 50,000 plants. Though there is a lack of trained professionals and research assistants here, there are some very experienced orchid workers and the climate is conducive enough to guarantee good returns. I had the opportunity to be shown around by the supervisor followed by one of his long time farm hands. Though not formally trained, both had a great understanding of the plants and their environment.

My case study here involved studying the common practices employed by commercial orchidarium of the country. Led by Mr Gokul Das, a staff member with over 25

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years of experience at the orchidarium, I was shown how plants are started, either through vegetative propagation/cut stems or bulk imports from SE Asia. Following this stage, was the sapling stage where each sapling would have to be individually planted, tied and arranged in special trays. These would be placed on racks inside of special polyhouses with modified climate. The mature plants are placed on beds outside the polyhouses under huge shade nets.

We can see the initial process followed by the staff in the pictures below. Young plants are procured post germination and transplanted to 2� net cups. These are then arranged according to variety and requirements in growing shelves with the help of plastic cables to hold the plants straight.

Pictures 15-17 : Entry to planting zone, transplanting of saplings and preparation

Pictures 18-20 : Arrangement and tying of saplings to straightening threads

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As we can see, there is a recess at the entry, usually filled with disinfectant so as to keep the growing area sanitised. Small growing plants are first arranged according to type and variety, then transplanted into 2-3 inch net pots using cocopeat and pine bark as potting media. Following this they are shifted to trays and left in a controlled environment till they reach maturity. Mature plants are ones which are ready to flower, usually in the 3rd to 4th year.

Pictures 21-22 : Digital temperature + humidity monitor and data entry for analysis

There is an environment monitoring routine that is followed strictly but it is only conducted two times a day and involves personnel. This is a small aspect that can be automated to increase efficiency, enable real time analysis spread over a 24x7 routine and also allow for better control of the causative factors.

Mature plants are shifted to beds outdoors and grown under shade nets. These require regular watering, usually twice a day. They are also treated with nutrient fertilizer and fungicides once a week. A lot of labour goes into the pruning of these plants which is one task that cannot be automated as it requires both experience and skill.

Pictures 23-24 : Mature plants under shade nets and watering cycle

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Pictures 25-26 : Pruning and removal of dead leaves, roots, media

The beds for these orchids are raised to avoid infection and dampness from the ground. Orchid beds must always be well drained and aerated, Though the heights of the beds vary according to the species, the bed materials are usually the same. Over the brick/ground plane, a layer of broken brick bat is applied. This is topped off with broken clay/earthen pots.

Pictures 27-29 : The ground, brick and clay bat layers of Orchid beds

This is followed by moving the mature plants from the polyhouse to their new outdoor beds directly under the shade nets.

Picture 30 : New mature transplants shifted to beds

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Though many steps in the cycle cannot be automated, a huge amount of labour can be saved by automating the ones that can, such as the watering and misting systems, nutrient delivery cycles and sensor based real time data monitoring.

Picture 31-34 : Manually controlled pumps, nutrient delivery and fungicidal treatment

Picture 35-36 : The corrugated cardboard packing boxes for transportation

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Some key insights gathered: • Commercial Orchid Farming is both lucrative and risky.

• Aspects such as packaging cannot be made more competitive.

• Standard shade nets are prone to damage from natural calamities and building a polyhouse is not a long term solution as they are fragile.

• Orchids require regular care and maintenance. The experience of providing care should be explored from the carer’s perspective.

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04

Chapter 4

Problem Definition

From what we can tell from our findings in the previous chap-

ters, there seems to be a great market for floriculture products in general and Orchids in particular. We have also seen that very little has been done to take advantage of India’s natural advantage in this regard. Having learnt of current techniques in practice at orchidariums and research centres today, we can move ahead to develop a design that will address the issues discussed and offer a viable solution to the problem of backend integration in the Indian export ecosystem.

The main problems seem to be:

• Poor connectivity of areas suitable for orchid farming makes it seem like a

risky proposition for potential growers.

• Lack of infrastructure such as cold storage facilities in the North East region

makes it difficult to store the fragile flowers for long.

• Lack of skilled human resources at source.

• A general lack of awareness about new developments in farming.

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However, there are also opportunities we can benefit from:

• Many states in India such as Karnataka and Maharashtra have great inter

national air connectivity. If production of orchids could be brought closer to

the point of export, it would lower transport costs dramatically and increase

the percentage of products volume for export.

• The availability of skilled labour in areas close to urban centres makes it

easier to operate a high end farm.

• Hydroponics is a proven viable source of production for high value crops.

It seems like the ideal solution to solving the connectivity problem would be to shift the centres of production to regions close to urban centres such as Mumbai and NCR. Developing a semi automated hydroponic system that will allow the cultivation of orchids in controlled environments outside of their natural habitat will allow us to do so. The presence of trained professionals from related fields such as biotechnology and agriculture in major cities would make it easy to find staff to run and operate such a facility.

Thus, the scope of this project will be to develop a semi automated hydroponic system for the cultivation of orchids outside their natural habitat.

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05

Chapter 5

Design

The design of a system that is robust enough to accommodate the extreme

and diverse parameters that orchids demand while remaining flexible enough to be used to grow other commercially viable plants as well in order to remain scalable, is indeed complex. To begin, I generated certain keywords that would help me decide which direction to take. These were :

State of the Art One can create highly efficient agricultural systems using the latest in science and technology while offering higher levels of productivity and efficiency through automation.

Flexible/Versatile A flexible system would be more scalable as it could be customised to suit different user requirements besides orchid farmers/cultivators.

Modular A modular system would allow for quick changes to the setup helping in operation, service and maintenance.

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Programmable/Customisable A programmable interface would allow one control over all automation based processes, such as grow light cycles, nutrient delivery timings and climate control.

Ease/Simplicity The easier it is to use the system, the larger the reach will be. a simple graphic interface that allows anyone to monitor conditions, make changes or control the operation would make the system inclusive and accessible by many.

Sustainability/Efficiency The setup has to be low cost, it should make use of recyclable materials and be efficient in terms of energy and water usage in relation to traditional practices.

These design directives have been used to develop a schematic of a desirable final prototype.

5.1

Concept

The design directives enabled me to select appropriate technologies, media

and techniques to begin the project. A system such as this is composed of multiple components. Some of them are : the apparatus in which the plants are to be grown, a water tank, a high pressure pump, a PVC manifold, a misting system, grow lights, sensors (temperature, light, humidity, time, TDS), etc. The following is a breakdown of the various components of the system:

a) System : High Pressure Aeroponics

HPA (High Pressure Aeroponic) systems are some of the most ad-

vanced setups in use for growing plants. They have been used by NASA to grow edible plants aboard the International Space Station. These systems are highly efficient, 50

using up to 98% less water than traditional methods, upto 60% less nutrients and can sometimes halve the growing cycle of plants.

The method of nutrient delivery is by misting the roots of plants with water and nutrient solution at regular intervals for a fixed amount of time. This is very similar to the way orchids absorb nutrients in their natural environment. Hence, an HPA type setup has been considered for this project.

b) Lights : Broadspectrum + RGB LEDs

Broadspectrum LEDs are not only economical, but also highly efficient in

terms of energy usage, cooler than conventional high intensity grow lights and programmable. The RGB LEDs can be programmed to generate light of only particular portions of the visible spectrum, such as 440 nm (Blue) to 660 nm (Red), which are crucial for the active growth of plants. This is highly useful since this enables one to change the wavelength of the light according to the plant being grown or its stage of maturity. Blue light is more important for vegetative and foliar plants while red light is of more importance for flowering and fruiting plants.

c) Control System : Arduino Module

The Arduino ecosystem allows great flexibility to build a customisable inter-

face for such a project as it is open source. There are many vendors and manufacturers of Arduino based sensors and equipment which makes them easily accessible both online and at select retail locations. This also means that faulty parts and sensors can be easily replaced as it is a fully modular system.

d) Interface : TFT LCD touchscreen module

A touch screen module that is large enough to be able to display current

readings while allowing one to make other changes to the system. Touchscreen functionality will allow us to have a contextual menus with simple options instead of multiple buttons and knobs, thereby simplifying the ease of operation.

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These four components form the backbone of the apparatus. The following schematic will help demonstrate how they will tie up together.

Figure 3 : Schematic of the proposed design

5.2

Prototype

A proof of concept model was conceived. Parameters for design included

cost effectiveness, suitability for the environment and general ease of use. The materials were chosen based on availability and their functional effectiveness. For example, the root chamber was designed in thermocol, since the requirements were of a material that was both waterproof and an insulating agent. As the experiment is a study over a brief period of time, durability was not considered. An attempt has been made to study such a system, even if not perfect. Material suggestions and other insights will be generated from this model which may help in the establishment of commercial scale setups in the future.

a) System Design

As mentioned the system is a high pressure aeroponic system. This means that a 52

high pressure water pump builds pressure in a closed misting system made of ½” PVC tubes, which is then sprayed through misting nozzles with orifice of 0.6mm.

This is done in order to achieve an aerosol particle size of approx 50 microns, the optimal size for absorption by root hairs. These nozzles spray water directly onto the roots of plants. The spray duration can be anywhere from 1 to 5 seconds and the interval between sprays can be from a couple of minutes to 10 minutes depending on other conditions. The spray and sleep durations are controlled by the microcontroller. This will allow us to program our required intervals into the flash memory of the Arduino Mega. The grow light on-off cycle, its intensity and the colour/wavelength (RGB value) of the LEDs can also be controlled by the Arduino. Besides this, the Arduino constantly monitors environment conditions such as temperature and humidity while displaying them on the screen. A log with all readings may also maintained as a future addition, which can give tremendous insight about the behaviour of plants under certain conditions, allowing for the recording of data sheets besides real time monitoring.

b) Pump

A RO booster pump is being used for the project. It has an inlet pressure of 20 PSI with outlet pressure ranging from 80 to 130 PSI. The nozzles being used in the project are ½” PVC misting tees with threaded brass nozzles with an orifice of 0.6mm. When water is pumped at about a 100 PSI through an orifice of 0.6 mm, it leads to a mist with a particle size in the range of 30-70 microns. This is the optimal size of a water droplet (50 microns) for absorption by plant roots.

Therefore, an attempt has been made to adhere to these standards. An electrical solenoid will allow the pump to build up pressure in the system to 120 PSI. After the spray sleep interval is complete, the Arduino will turn the solenoid on, releasing the water into the

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already flooded misting frame. The water mist will be sprayed onto the exposed roots hanging in the root chamber for the preprogrammed time.

c) Fogger Nutrient delivery through an aeroponic system may lead to clogged nozzles, therefore, as an experimental module, this prototype will also have an ultrasonic fogging module which will create a thick nutrient rich fog within the root chamber. The nutrients are too minute to affect the operation of the ceramic plate based device. This hybrid system should further extend the life cycle of the pump and nozzle while reducing service and maintenance requirements and cost.

d) Grow Lights

Five nos. of 4.5 metre long programmable RGB LED strips have been soldered onto an MDF board to provide the necessary light spectrum for optimal growth. The grow lights are also controlled by the Arduino. Plants usually require light in the range of 440 nm to 660 nm. The controller lets us choose the colour (wavelength) of the LED light source. It also lets us control the time for which the lights will be on.

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e) Time

Time is controlled by the RTC (Real Time Clock) DS1307 module. Since this module is fitted with its own battery cell, power cuts will not reset the time. This will avoid loss of data and irregularity in light and pump cycles in case of power failures.

f) Temperature and Humidity

The temperature and humidity are monitored using a DHT11 sensor. This is a simple to configure and use sensor which combines both functions of monitoring temperature and humidity while remaining small and using only one pin of the microcontroller.

g) Water Temperature and TDS

The system has been fitted with a standard probe thermometer to measure water tank readings. This is necessary as water temperature suitable for absorption by plant roots should ideally be in the range of 18 to 26 degrees Celsius. A standard TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) meter has also been fitted to estimate strengths of nutrient solutions and purity of water.

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h) Microcontroller

An Arduino Mega 2560 has been used in this project as it makes use of multiple sensors and also a 3.5 inch touchscreen. The Uno doesn’t have as many digital inputs and thus the Mega is a better choice as it allows for system upgrades in the future. It is the heart of the system and controls all aspects of its operation.

However, since the Mega is being used with a shield, most of the available pins are not accessible. This warrants the use of a Nano or Uno board additionally in conjunction with a 4 channel 5V relay module in order to control timer operations for the pump, fogger and lights.

i) Relay Module

A 12V 4 channel relay module is being used to control all the timer functions giving us the accuracy of milliseconds. However, the code has to be reset after fifty days to avoid conflicts.

j) Electric Solenoid Valve

A solenoid valve is used to build pressure in the system and allows us to control spray timings to a higher degree of accuracy than without.

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k) Interface and shield

A 3.5 inch TFT LCD resistive touchscreen is the display of choice. It is big enough to clearly display important data while providing access to other operations.

Also, having a single touchscreen with programmable screens is better than having a simple LCD coupled with a lot of physical buttons. Like the Mega board, this screen also makes the setup future ready. It attaches to the Arduino Mega using a TFT Shield for an Uno. 4 digital pins are used for touch input whereas 5 analog pins are used for the display I/O.

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5.3

Fabrication Now that the essential framework of the design, schematic and parts have been finalised, we can begin assembling the prototype. A structure made largely of thermocol has been used for the body with Acrylic, Foam board and Medium Density Fibreboard being used for various other applications. The materials have been decided upon by taking into account the purpose, availability, ease of use, workability and facilities available within campus at IIT, Kanpur.

Body

The body has been made with a frame of thermocol. This is largely because of the thermal insulation it provides for the root chamber and the ease of working with the material. Fevicol has been used as the adhesive. It has been lined with inexpensive plastic sheet for waterproofing the corners and edges.

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Net Pot tray

The net pot tray has been laser cut from 3mm thick white acrylic. The acrylic sheet is waterproof and also blocks the passage of light into the root chamber.

Light Panel

The grow light panel has been cut from 3mm thick MDF. The RGB LED strips have been soldered together and glued onto the sheet towards the ends. These will provide the necessary Blue:Red wavelengths beneficial to plant development.

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Misting Frame

The misting frame has been made from inexpensive 1/2� PVC pipes. They have been cut to the required size and fitted into a frame that would allow for even distribution of the spray throughout the chamber. The misting nozzles are 0.6 mm brass nozzles that come conveniently pre threaded into PVC segments.

Control Panel

The control panel was also cut from the leftover acrylic sheet. This allowed the possibility of having a precisely cut facade to hold all the key monitoring and control devices.

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Controler and other components housing

The secondary controller, relay module, power supply and adapters needed to be placed in a safe environment separate from the pants chamber. These have been put in two separate compartments in the space behind the control panel.

Assembly

The parts have been assembled in the prototype after individual testing of parts and their functioning within a sub system. For example, the fogger and pump were in-

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dividually tested to ensure smooth operation, followed by testing in similar parameters outside the system, finally leading to testing within the system in conjunction with other parts and functions.

The final assembly was made over the course of one week with additional elements such as plastic sheet for the greenhouse, lights and the touch module being added.

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This section ends with the fabrication of the physical unit. The next section will cover the design of the control system for the project and the coding involved.

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5.4

Controller Design The brain of the model is an Arduino Mega 2560 interfaced with a touchscreen module. It monitors changes in the system in real time and can switch between functions like nutrient delivery cycles and LED colour. Inthe future, it could be programmed to generate error or log reports which will be helpful in understanding how the system is reacting, responding to stimuli and also its effect on plant growth.

The touchscreen will also allows the user to make changes to the system without having to code or program the board.

Besides, a secondary microcontroller in the form of an Uno R3 controls all timer based actions such as the switching on and off of the pump, fogging unit and lights.

All power connections run through a 12V relay module that is pre programmed.

Accurate time is maintained by the RTC1807 (Real Time Clock) which is battery operated, hence power failures and device resets will not affect its operation.

Figure 4 : Schematic of the control module

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Design

Discernible from the schematic above, the Arduino Mega 2560 is at the centre of operations. It monitors outputs from the humidity, temperature and time sensors and displays them on the touch screen. It also controls the timer for the LED lights, pump and fogger. The time has been pre programmed into the board. It turns the switch on/off at the preset time intervals by means of a 4 channel 12V relay module. Usually, the live wire from the adapter goes into the COM pin of the relay and depending on the scenario, the output wire goes into the NO/NC ports. In this case, since the device is switched off most of the time and only operates during small intervals, we will be using the NC (Normally Closed) port for this project.

Three rudimentary screens have been developed for the touch interface. The home screen shows the data being monitored while giving options to access the light and pump settings.

Code

The code for the project has been compiled with the help of the open source MCUFRIEND_kvb library (link at https://github.com/prenticedavid/MCUFRIEND_kbv) and the project code shared by Mr. T.K.Hareendran on GitHub (https://www.electroschematics.com/9365/arduino-self-timer/).

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All code has been compiled on the Arduino IDE using open source examples.

The final programs have been added to the Appendix section on pg 95.

There are two individual programs running on the Mega2560 and the Uno R3. The Mega runs the touch interface and monitors the data. The Uno maintains the timer and controls the relay module. The code for the Mega has been explained in detail below followed by code for the timer.

Mega 2560 Code:

The program begins by including libraries that will be used while writing the program. These libraries make it convenient for inexperienced coders while working on complex projects. For example, a library might have a number of preset button shapes one can use without having to generate one with code. As you can see below, we are including libraries for the DHT sensor, a GFX library for the touchscreen and the MCU_FRIEND library which is useful for calibrating the touch on cheap display units which do not come with an ID. We are further defining the minimum and maximum values within which the touch screen will register input.

The next snippet defines the sensor input pin, and calibration data for the LCD model which was generated using a system example included in the MCU_FRIEND library. It includes the virtual extents of the screen.

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The snippet above loads and assigns the button function from the Adafruit library to five constants. It also defines a few more variables, pixel x, y and touch which will hold the values of the input data from the touchscreen. The orientation is defined as 0 or 1 in this library with 0 = portrait and 1 = landscape. Finally, some colours have been defined by their real world names to make it easy to program the screens later.

The code above is the setup function that begins at the start of the program. It sets up the Home Screen and defines the buttons that will take it into the other screens.

All the tft. commands are responsible for the colour and text visible on the screen.

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The following section takes us to the main loop. The first function here is the while (1) loop which is the data monitoring and display from the DHT sensor to the screen.

The DHT.temperature and DHT.humidity are commands from the DHT library that had been included initially that give us the required output in return. It has been found from trial and error that the DHT11 sensor used in the project was only able to give readings every two seconds. Hence the delay was set for 2000 ms. Because the screen diplays the data only when on the home screen, the while (1) has been established. This means that this loop will execute only when the home screen or 1 is on display. The final function is to analyse any touch input if registered.

The next bit analyses the touch data if registered and then decides on whether or not to change the current screen, and if the screen is to be changed, then which screen will come in its place.

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This next bit is the definition of the Touch_getxy() function. It analyses the touch input on the screen to ascertain its coordinates on the screen. This value is returned via the pressed Boolean variable.

The remainder of the program defines the other screens and provides touch functionality for navigation between them. The next section will look at the code from the timer module. The code for both the final compiled programs have been added in the Appendix section, page 95.

Uno R3 Code:

The program for the timer is relatively simple and doesn’t make use of any libraries.

We define a few values such as the spray duration and interval duration for the fogger and the pump. The same tempate can be used for controlling any other cycles such as lights and humidifiers.

This is follwed by defining the state of the relay pin linked to the fogger and pump function. lastMillis1 and lastMillis2 are variables that hold the current value of milliseconds passed from the last HIGH or LOW state. The millis function effectively returns the time elapsed in milliseconds since the program began running. These 70

values add up over time and can be too large for an int function to hold. Hence, unsigned long has been used to define them. This value will go back to 0 by default after 50 daysonce it becomes too large to hold. The constants relay_fogger_pin and relay_pump_pin are assigned the input pins which they will be controlled by. Thus, the Arduino digital pin 7 will be sending signals to turn the fogger on or off while the digital pin 8 will be doing the same for the water pump.

This is follwed by the setup code that sets the initial signals as LOW which will make sure that the fogger and pump are initially switched off and only turn on after the preset interval. The command digitalWrite (relay_fogger_pin, LOW) essentially sends the output of off to the relay module pin powering the fogger. Likewise for the pump. The same command with HIGH as output instead of LOW will set the device on.

Finally, we have the loop that actually regulates the on-off cycle. The value of millis is constantly being analysed and compared to the lastMillis value. whenever these values match, the program toggles the on-off switch for the respective loop. The use of the millis function allows us to avoid using the delay function and thereby blocking the code. This also allows us to control as many devices as we need depending

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upon the number of channels on the relay module. The relay in use in the current project is a 4 channel module so there are two empty slots which can also be operated by this controller.

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06

Chapter 6

Final Design & Testing

The completed prototype has been highlighted in the pictures below. It is

powered by a single cable attached to a mains line that in turn powers all the adapters, pumps, foggers and lights. They can also be individually controlled from the service panel on the side of the box.

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6.1

Objectives of testing The objectives of the test will be :

• To discern the viability of the process in the context to growing orchids as

demonstrated by analysing the created environment during the monitoring

period.

• To evaluate the dependability of hardware used in the prototype for long

term use.

• To evaluate the robustness of the control system during the monitoring

period.

6.2

Parameters The main parameters on which the performance of the device was based were

• Ability to maintain conducive environment for orchid cultivation

• Robustness of the control system and

• Durability of the hardware

• Silent operation

over the course of a monitoring period. The apparatus was kept under observation for 48 hours. The findings from this test have been outlined in the following section.

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6.3

Performance The apparatus could not be tested with plants as the plants didn’t survive the germination to transplant period. However, it was tested to see whether it indeed was capable of providing an environment conducive to orchid cultivation. The apparatus performed consistently well during the final monitoring period and maintained the right conditions. The humidity was maintained by using short bursts of the fogging unit. The fogger would raise the humidity to about 70% by running for 60 seconds and then switch off for 120 seconds thus bringing the humidity back down to about 50 %. The only pain point seemed to be the quality of the 24V adapter which happened to short circuit thrice. This was found to be due to a faulty plug point, so a surge protecting power supply was used for the reminder of the test period.

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6.4

Problems identified Thermocol is not recommended for such projects especially if long term since its durability is extremely questionable. Cheap solutions such as using industrial plastic totes would be far more beneficial from an economic and logical standpoint.

The use of cheaper Chinese counterparts do not seem like a long term solution and should only be used for proof of concept models. Also, maintenance of such a system would be difficult and would require the presence of at least one qualified technician on the premises at all times. This point has been considered during the Cost Benefit Analysis.

6.5

Future Testing Some parameters on which the module may be tested in the future under a real world situation with actual plants may be :

Plant physical health : Any changes in the physical appearance of the plant including growth, increase in the number of leaves, etc.

Plant general health : Any changes in the general appearance of the plant including colour of leaves, turgidity, presence of rot or any pathogens, and general health.

Number of instances where manual attention was required during the monitoring period.

Number of instances where hardware changes/servicing was required during the monitoring period.

Energy usage by apparatus throughout the monitoring period in order to check efficiency of setup 76

07

Chapter 7

Growing plants for system

This chapter will describe the process used to germinate, transplant and get

plants ready to enter a hydroponic setup. The entire process begins with the seeds.

Since orchids take extremely long to mature, vegetable seeds of plants such as peppers, lettuce, spinach, broccolli, cucumbers and amaranthus were procured. In general, it is good practice to pre soak seeds before attempting to ready them for germination. There are different ways to aid in the germination process according to the different types of seeds. Some need to be filed, some need light, some prefer the dark and some don’t even need to be buried. However, this chapter is a documentation of the process followed for ghost peppers, cucumbers, lettuce and spinach.

7.1

Germination First the seeds were pre soaked for a period of 24-48 hours. This was followed by folding them in a moist tissue and packing them into a sealed glass tumbler. The enhanced temperature and humidity within this chamber are enough to get the germination process going. On average, most seeds germinated within 72 hours of being put into the chamber.

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Photographs demonstrating the germination technique

Once the seeds have germinated, they are arranged in seed trays filled with cocopeat according to variety. In order to avoid confusion, the trays must be marked according to the plant and date of planting.

These trays need to be fed from the bottom so as not to disturb the cocopeat and require a fair bit of humidity. These trays are good options to start seeds as they are easily mobile and convenient to use. Once some saplings start to push through, we 78

can start providing the tray with light. The problem with most plants that are started indoors are that they remain leggy (thin stems as the leaves reach out towards light source.)and never get strong enough to be transplanted outdoors. The stress from an outdoor transplant may not exist in our process but it’s not a good sign to have leggy plants as they become harder to transplant and may not survive.

The first set of leaves that emerge from the sapling are not true leaves and are known as ‘cotyledons’ or seed leaves. Their job is to provide food for the sapling until the true leaves unfurl and begin the process of photosynthesis. The second pair onwards are registered as true leaves. The first photograph below has a tray full of saplings with seed leaves. We can see true leaves in plants from the image below it.

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7.2

Transplanting

Once plants have developed three to four pairs of true leaves, they can be transplanted to a larger netpot. Here the roots will grow through the cocopeat and LECA pebbles and enter the water/ nutrient reservoir. Once the roots start showing through the pebbles, it is time to move the netpot to tha aeroponic chamber.

Though a majority of the plants grown from seed died from unfavourable environments and pests, the experiment proves that the process works as long as it is con80

ducted in a safe and controlled environment that is free from pests, insects and any pathogens. The amount of care required after germination for the two weeks until the transplant is tremendous. The lack of a suitable environment in Kanpur and fluctuating weather patterns caused the cool season plants to die out shortly after germination thereby making it difficult to test the device in a real world scenario.

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08

Chapter 8

Indoor Farm Design

To fit such a system, a model indoor farm module was developed

keeping in mind all design considerations such as access, circulation, services, control systems and modularity. A polyhouse would not be a long term or safe option given the amount of initial investment. An indoor farm, either leased out, rented or constructed would be the way to go. In the event that a new farm would like to construct its own grow area, a 500 sqm module was created which could be a standalone block or form much larger farms depending on their placement/arrangement.

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Lateral Placement

This arrangement allows the farm module to line up laterally, ensuring that each module gets the same amount of light This arrangement will be useful when North direction is also the direction of predominant wind direction as the first row of units will shield the remaining modules behind them.

Linear Placement

This arrangement allows the farm module to line up in a linear fashion, ensuring that each module gets the same amount of light This arrangement will be useful when the site is linear.

The block is flexible enough to be placed either way with no disadvantages. Thus, the only determinant becomes the site area, profile and topography. On a levelled plot of land, this farm unit can be made to any size and in any profile with increments of 500 sqm. Every module will be able to accommodate a set of 300-450 (depending on the height of the modules) aeroponic pods. Depending on the variety of orchid, each pod will be capable of holding between 80 to 250 plants, Thus the holding capacity of a 500 sqm module is between 24000 to 75000 plants in 300 modules.

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A representative 1:150 scale model of the indoor farm unit was made to understand the volume better.

A mixed cropping setup would change the number of pods that would fit into this volume by double since the height profile of a pod for cultivating lettuce would be about half the height profile of an orchid tray. This would allow us to generate additional income to offset the high initial costs if we can find a market. Based on this, multiple revenue models have been provided in the following chapter on Cost Benefit Analysis.

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09

Chapter 9

Cost Benefit Analysis

The costs associated with a model of this sort are very high but so is

the potential revenue. In order to ascertain the economic viability of such a project, a hypothetical scenario will be considered. We will take into account the costs associated with the price of a plot of land, construction of one 500 sqm farm module and operational expenses over a period of 5 years and compare it to the revenues generated during the same period to see if such a model is economically feasible.

We will take into consideration that since orchids take nearabout three years to mature, we will have to begin with a mixed cropping scenario where different varieties of quick growing crops will be cultivated to offset operational costs.

9.1

Approximate Cost of project Land price Cost of land at a location such as Warora or Bhor in Maharashtra is Rs. 7,000,000 to Rs. 1,500,00 per acre. We will assume a price of Rs. 1,200,000 per acre. Thus, the cost of a 750 sqm plot would come to 0.185 x 1,200,000 = Rs.222,000

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Construction cost The cost of construction of a reinforced concrete structure is between Rs. 850 to Rs. 1650 per sqft. Assuming the cost to be Rs. 1200 per sq ft, the construction cost of the 5381 sq ft building would come to 5381 x 1500 = Rs 64,57,200

Cost of apparatus and installation The cost of the apparatus can be determined in a per square feet manner by dividing the cost of one module by 36.59, its area in sqft. Considering the cost of one module to be Rs. 70,000, the cost per sq ft is 70,000/36.59 = Rs. YY. Thus the cost of the apparatus is 16,200 (total area covered by apparatus in sq ft) x Rs.70,000 = Rs. 3,14,92,800

Electricity The electricity charges for a project of this size will be huge. Thus it represents an entire segment of its own. Considering the requirements of 32W per sq ft of growing area, we need a total wattage of 32 x 10,979 = 351,328W or 351.3 kW. We need approximately 8 hours of lighting in the day, 4 hours from 0500 hrs to 0900 hrs and again from 1800 hrs to 2200 hrs. Thus the daily usage will amount to 351.3 x 8 = 2810 kWh As per the LT-II Commercial slab, one kWh is sold at the rate of Rs. 10.29. Thus, the expenditure on lights over a period of 5 years will be (2810 x 10.29) x 365 x 5= Rs 5,27,69,693

Labour Labour is another important factor to take into consideration. However India’s cheap labour costs make it possible to hire labour for cheaper as compared to Europe or the US. Considering a team of 7 people to run the farm: four farm hands on an annual salary of Rs. 180,000, a couple of overseers with an annual salary of Rs. 2,40,000 and a supervisor with an annual salary of Rs. 300,000. Thus total costs on labour for a period of 5 years will be 15,00,000 x 5 = Rs. 75,00,000

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Operation and Maintenance The costs of operation and maintenance include costs incurred upon hardware replacements, servicing and general maintenance of the farm. Gauging from the test results from the prototype, we can consider a cost of Rs. 100,000 annually. Thus cost on OnM for 5 years will be = Rs. 500,000

Miscellaneous Expenses These include any variable costs that may rise due to unforeseen circumstances. We will assign a sum of Rs. 10,00,000 for this purpose.

Total Cost over 5 years = Rs. 9,99,41,693 (Approx 10 crore rupees)

9.2

Estimated revenue from model Depending on the type of crop grown, we can estimate a basic revenue model based on market data. If we consider market rates for products such as exotic greens and herbs and approximate our potential yield of these products, we can ascertain how much revenue will be generated in 5 years under a mixed cropping system.

For the purpose of generating the revenue model, we will be collecting some values from market sources. Let us consider two high value crops such as a leafy green lettuce and an exotic herb - basil. The cost of these two products as listed on online retailer bigbasket.com:

a) Romaine Lettuce

Cost of lettuce (market) = Rs. 14 for 100-150 gms

Approx weight of one lettuce head = 626 g (Hannaone, 2019)

Therefore revenue per lettuce = Rs. 87.64

Reduced rate considering wholesale price = Rs.87.64 x 0.667 = Rs 58.45

Time taken to grow lettuce = 3 weeks (17 grow cycles annually)

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Number of lettuce grown per cycle = No. of lettuce per unit x No. of units

Number of lettuce grown per year = (200 x 150) x 17 = 510000

Thus annual revenue from lettuce if grown on 150 modules (33%) would be: Number of lettuce grown per year x Revenue per lettuce 510000 x 58.45 = Rs. 2,98,12,498.8

b) Basil

Cost of basil leaf (market) = Rs. 50 for 250 gms

Approx produce from one plant = 368.54 g (DeBaggio.T, 1996)

Therefore revenue per plant = Rs. 73.7

Reduced rate considering wholesale price = Rs.73.7 x 0.667 = Rs 49.16

Time taken to grow basil = 5 weeks (10 grow cycles annually)

Number of plants grown per cycle = No. of plants per unit x No. of units

Number of plants grown per year = (200 x 150) x 10 = 300000

Thus annual revenue from basil if grown on 150 modules (33%) would be: Number of plants grown per year x Revenue from one plant 300000 x 49.16 = Rs. 1,47,48,000

c) Orchids

Price of one spike (market) = Rs. 100 (average)

Approx produce from one plant = 2-5 spikes

Therefore revenue per plant = Rs. 200-500

Number of plants = 150 plants per unit x 150 units = 22500

Number of spikes = 2-5

Orchids only start blooming from their third year by producing one or two spikes.

The number of spikes produced increase subsequentially until the plants mature at the age of six years. Healthy plants may now giive out 5 to six spikes, with each spike having around 8 flowers.

The annual revenue from orchids in the first couple of years will be nil. However, from the third year of production, assuming that the plants put out one spike each, 88

we will start generating revenue. Let us assume that the plants will produce 1 spike in their third year, 3 spikes intheir fourth year and 5 spikes in their fift year of growth.

Thus the revenue generated will start from the third year and rise until it stabilizes from the seventh or eighth year of production.

The following table shows us the revenue generated from the farm in a period of five years.

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

Lettuce

Basil

2,98,12,498.8

1,47,48,000

2,98,12,498.8

Revenue 44560498.8

1,47,48,000

Orchids Nil Nil

2,98,12,498.8

1,47,48,000

22,50,000

46810498.8

2,98,12,498.8

1,47,48,000

67,50,000

51310498.8

2,98,12,498.8

1,47,48,000

1,12,50,000

55810498.8

44560498.8

Total revenue over 5 years = Rs 24,30,52,494

Total profit after 5 years = Revenue - Initial Cost

= Rs 24,30,52,494 - Rs. 9,99,41,693

= Rs 14,31,10,801

Using the mixed cropping model, one could hypothetically break even even before the third year of production. Though very conservative figures were used to calculate the estimated revenue, one must also remember that it is very difficult to find a market for such high volumes of exotic greens in India.

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10

Chapter 10

Conclusion

The objective of this research work was to explore the viability of using

an automated hydroponic system for commercial floriculture. The research, final design exploration, prototype and testing has led me to believe that a combination of aeroponics and fogponics could be a viable and effective method of growing orchids and other plants in controlled environments with a high degree of efficiency. More research has to be conducted to ascertain the best parameters to grow individual crops but the basis of the system developed is robust enough to be programmed for different configurations depending upon requirements.

10.1

Major findings The most important finding has been discovering the possibility of using a hybrid ‘fog-aero’ ponics system for orchids. As fogponics is a relatively new process, there is no documentation on it having been used to grow orchids before. The results seen in the short period of seven days were heartening but cannot be substituted by a test under strict laboratory conditions. Further experimentation needs to be done to gauge the effectiveness of the technique in a real world situation.

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The need for establishment of research facilities for trial based applications of new technologies in the field of agrotech is imperative. There is an immense untapped market in the field of agriculture which is often overlooked by entrepreneurs wishing to enter the start-up ecosystem.

10.2

Limitations of Study Since the study was conducted over a brief span of five months and the product was monitored for 48 hours, the test results of the prototype cannot be called comprehensive. Longer tests and experiments have to be carried out in order to further validate the process/technique and efficiency of the apparatus.

Orchids have long life spans of upto 15 years and can take upto three years to grow.

A couple of mature orchid plants and five young saplings are under observation at the time of submission of this thesis, however, the time period being too short, the data that has been generated is inconclusive and has thus been left out of this paper. Orchids are some of the most diverse plants in existence. As a result, test results may vary slightly or considerably depending on the type of orchid and its level of maturity. Even though orchids of varying maturity were used for the experiment, it is impossible to pass a generalized statement with a test group of as few as seven plants raised under extremely harsh conditions (44° C, below 20% RH).

10.3

Future Scope A lot of research has to be conducted to develop such a system for commercial scale projects but this thesis demonstrates the potential of the industry and field.

The future holds tremendous scope with regards to how such systems can be improved. IoT and wearables can be integrated into such apparatus in order to deliver

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online notifications and real time reports of the operation straight on one’s internet enabled device. In addition to the basic automation features, simple devices like the addition of a bluetooth and wifi module to the microcontroller will allow one to control such devices with their Android enabled phone. Any interested enthusiast can create his own phone app using online tools such as MIT Inventor and use it in conjunction with such open source projects. In the future, complex algorithms can be developed using concepts of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to create self sustaining systems requiring minimum intervention.

The future looks bright for agricultural entrepreneurs in India. From generating employment in rural areas, generating income in foreign markets and vitalizing India’s floriculture export scenario, the future holds tremendous scope for the use of hydroponics in commercial farms. The process which has for decades been used to grow quick growing exotic greens in order to offset the high establishment costs needs to be adapted for use to cultivate valuable long term crops which can also benefit from this technique greatly. Although a long term investment as compared to growing high value vegetables or herbs, remuneration from the floriculture model is just as lucrative if not more. While it is often hard for small scale hydroponic vegetable growers to scale up because of lack of demand in the local markets for their produce, access to the market for flowers could be made much easier. There is a growing demand for these cut flowers and exporting them is a great way to earn revenue from a consistent source.

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Bhatt, A. (2017, January 1). RTC Based Device ON-OFF Timer Using Arduino | EngineersGarage. Retrieved June 9, 2019, from https://www.engineersgarage.com/contribution/rtc-based-device-timer-using-arduino

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Chandankumar, G. (2009). Business Appraisal of Orchid Flower Production in Karnataka. Bengaluru.

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Ching Cheng, H. I. H. Decision Making Factors for Country-of-origin Agriculture Branding in International Markets: The Case of Orchids in Taiwan. Horticulture, 02(02). https://doi.org/10.4172/2376-0354.1000134

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De, L. C., Pathak, P., Rao, A., & Rajeevan, P. (2014). Global Orchid Industry.

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ICAR - National Research Centre Orchids, India. NRCO. Retrieved June 9, 2019, from https://www.nrcorchids.nic.in/index.php/en/

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Khuraijam, J., Sharma, S., & Roy, K. (2017). Orchids: Potential Ornamental Crop in North India. International Journal of Horticultural & Crop Science Research , 7(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.17660/actahortic.2014.1025

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Phinaitrup, B.- anan. (2014). Entrepreneurs’ Adaptability to Competitiveness in the Orchid Industry : A Case study of Thailand, 16(2), 75-92.

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24

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Appendix - A

Code Defined below are the two programs being used in the prototype. The first is the timer function which controls the on off cycles of the various sub-systems while the second program is the code for the touch interface being used in the control panel.

The Timer program for fogger/ pump and lights: // Which pins are connected to which LED const byte fogger = 7; const byte pump = 8; // Time periods of blinks in milliseconds (1000 to a second). const unsigned long foggerinterval = 3000; const unsigned long pumpinterval = 10000; // Variable holding the timer value so far. One for each “Timer� unsigned long foggertimer; unsigned long pumptimer; void setup () { pinMode (fogger, OUTPUT); pinMode (pump, OUTPUT); foggertimer = millis (); pumptimer = millis (); } // end of setup void togglefogger () { if (digitalRead (fogger) == LOW) digitalWrite (fogger, HIGH); else digitalWrite (fogger, LOW); // remember when we toggled it foggertimer = millis (); } // end of togglefogger void togglepump () {

97

if (digitalRead (pump) == LOW) digitalWrite (pump, HIGH); else digitalWrite (pump, LOW); // remember when we toggled it pumptimer = millis (); } // end of togglepump void loop () { // Handling the blink of one LED. if ( (millis () - foggertimer) >= foggerinterval) togglefogger (); if ( (millis () - pumptimer) >= pumpinterval) togglepump (); } // end of loop

The data display program with touch functionality for 3.5â&#x20AC;? screen: #if 1 #include <dht.h> #include <Adafruit_GFX.h> #include <MCUFRIEND_kbv.h> #include <TouchScreen.h> #define MINPRESSURE 50 #define MAXPRESSURE 1000 dht DHT; #define DHT11_PIN 22 const int XP = 7, XM = A1, YP = A2, YM = 6; //ID=0x6814 const int TS_LEFT = 128, TS_RT = 909, TS_TOP = 101, TS_BOT = 934; TouchScreen ts = TouchScreen(XP, YP, XM, YM, 300); Adafruit_GFX_Button led_ctrl, nutri, back, on, off; int pixel_x, pixel_y; int touch; MCUFRIEND_kbv tft; uint8_t Orientation = 0; #define #define #define #define #define #define #define

BLACK BLUE RED GREEN CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW

//PORTRAIT

0x0000 0x001F 0xF800 0x07E0 0x07FF 0xF81F 0xFFE0 98

#define WHITE

0xFFFF

void setup(void) { tft.reset(); uint16_t ID = tft.readID(); if (ID == 0xD3D3) ID = 0x9486; // write-only shield tft.begin(ID); Serial.begin(9600); //show_Serial(); tft.setRotation(Orientation); tft.fillScreen(BLACK); tft.setTextColor(BLACK); tft.setTextSize(2); tft.fillScreen(GREEN); tft.setCursor(40, 20); tft.setTextSize(3); tft.println(“HPA Controller”); tft.setCursor(30, 50); tft.setTextSize(2); tft.println(“Design Programme, IITK”); led_ctrl.initButton(&tft, 160, 300, 280, 60, BLACK, WHITE, BLACK, “GROW LEDS”, 2); nutri.initButton(&tft, 160, 380, 280, 60, BLACK, WHITE, BLACK, “PUMP CTRL”, 2); led_ctrl.drawButton(false); nutri.drawButton(false); show_tft(); } void loop() { } void show_tft(void) { while (1) { tft.setTextColor(BLACK, GREEN); int chk = DHT.read11(DHT11_PIN); tft.setCursor(20, 100); tft.setTextSize(2); tft.print (“Temp:”); tft.setCursor(40, 120); tft.setTextSize(5); tft.print (DHT.temperature); tft.print(“ C”); tft.setCursor(20, 180); tft.setTextSize(2); tft.print (“Humi:”); tft.setTextSize(5); tft.setCursor(40, 200); tft.print(DHT.humidity); tft.print(“ %”); tft.setTextSize(2);

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tft.setCursor(20, 440); tft.print(“Suram Hazarika (17119015)”); bool down = Touch_getXY(); led_ctrl.press(down && led_ctrl.contains(pixel_x, pixel_y)); nutri.press(down && nutri.contains(pixel_x, pixel_y)); if (led_ctrl.justReleased()) { led_ctrl.drawButton(); } if (nutri.justReleased()) { nutri.drawButton(); } if (led_ctrl.justPressed()) { led_ctrl.drawButton(true); { screen2(); } } if (nutri.justPressed()) { nutri.drawButton(true); { screen3(); } } //delay(200);

} } bool Touch_getXY(void) { TSPoint p = ts.getPoint(); pinMode(YP, OUTPUT); //restore shared pins pinMode(XM, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(YP, HIGH); //because TFT control pins digitalWrite(XM, HIGH); bool pressed = (p.z > MINPRESSURE && p.z < MAXPRESSURE); if (pressed) { pixel_x = map(p.x, TS_LEFT, TS_RT, 0, tft.width()); //.kbv makes sense to me pixel_y = map(p.y, TS_TOP, TS_BOT, 0, tft.height()); } return pressed; } #endif void screen2(void) { tft.setTextColor(BLACK); tft.setTextSize(2); tft.fillScreen(GREEN); 100

tft.setCursor(60, 30); tft.setTextSize(3); tft.println(“LED Control”); tft.setCursor(20, 140); tft.setTextSize(2); tft.println(“(R,G,B)”); tft.fillRect(20, 70, 280, 50, tft.setCursor(20, 200); tft.setTextSize(3); tft.println(“R”); tft.fillRect(50, 200, 250, 5, tft.setCursor(20, 270); tft.println(“G”); tft.fillRect(50, 270, 250, 5, tft.setCursor(20, 340); tft.println(“B”); tft.fillRect(50, 340, 250, 5,

WHITE);

WHITE); WHITE); WHITE);

on.initButton(&tft, 60, 400, 80, 50, BLACK, WHITE, GREEN, “ON”, 2); off.initButton(&tft, 160, 400, 80, 50, BLACK, WHITE, RED, “OFF”, 2); back.initButton(&tft, 250, 400, 80, 50, BLACK, WHITE, BLACK, “BACK”, 2); on.drawButton(false); off.drawButton(false); back.drawButton(false); while (1) { int chk = DHT.read11(DHT11_PIN); delay(2000); bool down = Touch_getXY(); back.press(down && back.contains(pixel_x, pixel_y)); if (back.justReleased()) { back.drawButton(); } if (back.justPressed()) { back.drawButton(true); { setup(); } } } } void screen3(void) { tft.setTextColor(BLACK); tft.setTextSize(2); tft.fillScreen(GREEN);

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tft.setCursor(10, 30); tft.setTextSize(3); tft.println(“Nutrient Delivery”); tft.setCursor(20, 100); tft.setTextSize(2); tft.println(“14:59, 01/05/19”); tft.setCursor(20, 200); tft.setTextSize(3); tft.println(“Duration: 5 s”); tft.setCursor(20, 270); tft.println(“Interval: 295 s”); on.initButton(&tft, 60, 400, 80, 50, BLACK, WHITE, GREEN, “ON”, 2); off.initButton(&tft, 160, 400, 80, 50, BLACK, WHITE, RED, “OFF”, 2); back.initButton(&tft, 250, 400, 80, 50, BLACK, WHITE, BLACK, “BACK”, 2); on.drawButton(false); off.drawButton(false); back.drawButton(false); while (1) { int chk = DHT.read11(DHT11_PIN); delay(2000); bool down = Touch_getXY(); back.press(down && back.contains(pixel_x, pixel_y)); if (back.justReleased()) { back.drawButton(); } if (back.justPressed()) { back.drawButton(true); { setup(); } } }

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