Abstract
Sustainable water management in agriculture is a major challenge, particularly in regions facing water scarcity and the growing impacts of climate change. The lack of efficiency of traditional irrigation methods often leads to water waste, reduced productivity, and increased pressure on natural resources. In this context, it is imperative to develop innovative solutions to optimize water use while maintaining agricultural performance. This paper proposes a smart irrigation system based on the internet of things (IoT) and cloud computing. The system incorporates several sensors to measure key environmental parameters, such as temperature, air humidity, soil moisture, and water level. An embedded ESP32 microcontroller collects and transmits the data to the thingsBoard cloud platform, where it is analyzed in real time to determine precise irrigation needs. The system’s algorithm automatically makes the necessary decisions to activate or deactivate the irrigation pump, ensuring optimal and accurate water management. Experimental results demonstrate that the system significantly reduces water waste while optimizing irrigation based on the actual needs of the soil and crops. Real-time measurements and automated decision-making ensure accurate and efficient irrigation that adapts to fluctuations in environmental conditions. Performance analysis shows that the proposed approach significantly improves water resource management compared to traditional methods. The integration of cloud computing and the IoT facilitates remote monitoring and automated decision-making, making the system adaptable to a variety of crops and agricultural lands. The estimated cost of implementing the smart irrigation system is approximately $44.00, confirming its economic feasibility and appeal to small and medium-sized farms seeking to optimize water use. This solution also helps to build farmers’ resilience to climate change and water scarcity. The system presented represents a significant advance in the field of smart and sustainable irrigation. By optimizing water use and improving agricultural productivity, the system directly contributes to food security, water resource conservation, and climate resilience. Thus, this study provides a replicable and adaptable model for the development of large-scale smart and sustainable agricultural solutions.
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Data availability
Data are available on request from Abdennabi Morchid (abdennabi.morchid@usmba.ac.ma).
Code availability
The custom code for the smart irrigation system described in this study is provided as a supplementary file (Supplementary Code 1).
References
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The authors used generative AI tools to assist in grammar correction, clarity improvement, and refinement of language throughout this manuscript. All content was reviewed and validated by the authors to ensure accuracy, originality, and adherence to ethical standards.
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**Abdennabi Morchid: ** Conceived and designed the experiments; Performed the experiments; Analyzed and interpreted the data; Contributed reagents; Materials; Analysis tools or Data; Writing – original draft.**Hassan Qjidaa: ** Analyzed and interpreted the data; Contributed reagents; Materials; Analysis tools or Data; Writing – review & editing.**Rachid El Alami: ** Analyzed and interpreted the data; Contributed reagents; Materials; Analysis tools or Data; Writing – review & editing.**Salah Mobayen: ** Analyzed and interpreted the data; Contributed reagents; Materials; Analysis tools or Data; Writing – review & editing.**Paweł Skruch: ** Analyzed and interpreted the data; Contributed reagents; Materials; Analysis tools or Data; Writing – review & editing.**Badre Bossoufi: ** Analyzed and interpreted the data; Contributed reagents; Materials; Analysis tools or Data; Writing – review & editing.
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Morchid, A., Qjidaa, H., Alami, R.E. et al. Smart irrigation-based internet of things and cloud computing technologies for sustainable farming. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35810-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35810-0
