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Determining the effect of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense Tropical Race 4 on various soil parameters is essential in
modeling and predicting its occurrence in banana plantations. One way to fulfill this is through a sensor network that will
continuously and automatically monitor environmental conditions at suspect locations for an extended period of time. A
wireless sensor network was developed specifically for this purpose. This sensor network is capable of measuring soil
acidity, moisture, temperature, and conductivity. The designed prototype made use of off-the-shelf Parrot Flower Power
soil sensor, pH sensor, Bluno Beetle, battery, and 3D-printed materials, catering specifically to the conditions of tropical
banana plantations with consideration for sensor node size, communication, and power. Sensor nodes were tested on both
simulated tropical environments and on an actual banana plantation in San Jose, General Santos City, Philippines.
Challenges were resolved through iterative design and development of prototypes. Several tests including temperature and
weather resilience, and structural stress tests were done to validate the design. Findings showed that the WSN nodes
developed for this purpose are resilient to high tropical temperatures for up to 12 hours of continuous exposure, are able
to withstand compressive forces of up to 8880.6 N, and can reliably collect data automatically from the area 47.96% of the
time at an hourly frequency under actual field conditions.
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