Soil Protection and Mobile Apps Created with App Inventor® - A Multidisciplinary Symbiosis?
Bogdan-Vasile Cioruța *
Doctoral School - Agronomy, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, 3-5 Calea Mănăștur, 400372, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Office of Informatics, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, North University Center of Baia Mare, 62A Victor Babeș Str.- 430083, Baia Mare, Romania, Faculty of Letters - DSPP, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, North University Center of Baia Mare, 76 Victoriei Str.-430072, Baia Mare, Romania and Faculty of Science - DMI, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, North University Center of Baia Mare, 76 Victoriei Str.-430072, Baia Mare, Romania.
Mirela Coman
Doctoral School - Agronomy, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, 3-5 Calea Mănăștur, 400372, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and Faculty of Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, North University Center of Baia Mare, 62A Victor Babeș Str.-430083, Baia Mare, Romania.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This paper aims to highlight the My Soil Protection App's adaptability and compatibility with the demands of the current digital consumer society by starting with a definition, descriptive characterization, and synthetic analysis of the MIT App Inventor® platform (following users' perceptions over the previous 10-12 years). In this sense, concurrent with the examination of how the platform may be utilized in soil protection plans and strategies, the establishment and creation of a digital field agenda (My Soil Protection App) are carried out. My Soil Protection App, an application we developed, requires the MIT App Inventor® platform functionalities to be coupled with data specifically related to soil resource protection (local environmental characteristics, climate variables, land usage typology, etc). In the Office of Informatics, between October 2020 and December 2021, we conducted an assessment that included identifying and grading the platform's components that would be used to create specialist soil protection apps. The analytical technique covered the fundamental components of mobile devices (including sensors) that might be used in the collection and management of field data. As a result, it was discovered (through implementation, testing and validation of functionalities) during the application's development that modern soil preservation procedures may make good use of the App Inventor®. We suggest using MIT App Inventor® (via the user interface, media, and sensor components) if you feel the urge to create an application because it promises a computer-soil science stronger fusion.
Keywords: Sustainable agriculture, soil protection, MIT App Inventor®, mobile apps setup