2026-10-14T15:16:37Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33591154 2026-09-30T07:32:25Z category_27304 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

<b>Low-Cost Sensing for Integrated Soil and Water Assessment in Small-Scale Farming</b> Susi Simanjuntak (24417782) Materials conservation Permaculture citizen science low-cost sensors Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Water-Energy-Food (WEF) soil health water quality <p dir="ltr">Small-scale farms are often excluded from data-driven decision-making due to the cost and complexity of conventional analysis. This study demonstrates that low-cost, consumer-grade technology, deployed within a participatory citizen science framework, can generate robust diagnostic insight to guide whole-system ecological redesign. Over a 48-hour period at Green Valley Farm (a pseudonym), we conducted a high-density reconnaissance using a smartphone-connected soil sensor (¥143) and a colorimetric water test kit (¥82.9), collecting 221 geotagged soil samples and analyzing eight distinct water sources. The data revealed a landscape defined by disconnected flows and spatial dysfunction: (1) a severe nutrient blockage, with extreme fertility (index >3000) and salinity (EC up to 5,824 µS/cm) immobilized in animal manure and compost zones, while intensive vegetable gardens exhibited critically low fertility (index as low as 5); (2) a dysfunctional water cycle marked by both scarcity and saturation, with 68% of garden soils below optimal moisture (<15%) while compost and graywater zones were universally saturated (100% moisture); (3) a mismatched water cycle, where high-quality rainwater (pH 6.6, no heavy metals) was unharvested, alkaline and heavy-metal-positive pond water (pH 8.9) posed an irrigation risk, and ammonia-rich graywater (NH₃ >5.0 mg/L) was discarded as a pollutant; and (4) chaotic variability within management zones indicating absent systematic design. The study validates an "appropriate rigor" approach, where tools precise enough to reveal critical patterns and thresholds prove sufficient for actionable diagnosis. Theoretically, it reframes Permaculture zones as dynamic interfaces of flow and blockage, empirically defined by data, while connecting to broader frameworks of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) and precision conservation. The barrier to regenerative transition is often not a lack of sophisticated knowledge, but a lack of accessible diagnostic capacity. This study provides a replicable model for democratizing ecosystem assessment, empowering land stewards to transform isolated problems into integrated solutions aligned with climate-smart and nexus-based sustainability principles.</p> 2026-09-30T07:32:25Z Dataset Dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.33591154.v2 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/_b_Diagnostic_Systemic_Dysfunctions_on_a_Smallholding_A_Participatory_Citizen_Science_Reconnaissance_with_Low-Cost_Technology_b_/33591154 CC BY 4.0