Soil moisture measurements are vital for the irrigation scheduling as it can help in providing adequate quantity of requisite water to the plants for their photosynthesis and survival needs. Ultimately all living beings such as humans, animals feed on agricultural crop produce for their feeding and energy requirements and as such the plants are the vital backbone of the existence of life on earth.As its certain that no plants can survive without water the principal source through which nutrients, fertilizer, minerals are in dissolved form reach to the plants through their roots and hence soil moisture measurement is an essential part and the modern technology should enable the agricultural sector to optimize their water usage otherwise the continual withdrawal of water improperly has led to fall in water table at many places leading to drought prone situation. Also most of the farmers are mostly illiterate and their affordability to have instruments is limited. Its found that the available soil moisture sensors are rather expensive and not farmers friendly. Hence it is proposed in this paper to design a low cost capacitance sensor which is both easy to operate by illiterate person and within the reach of poor Indian farmer and their results are presented herewith.

Key words: Agricultural sensor, capacitance sensor, irrigation scheduling, low cost sensor, soil moisture sensor