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This research has for object to study the influence of clay addition, i.e., Maghnian bentonite, like deposit clay, in the physical properties of sandy materials from Mostaganem plateau (North-West Algeria) submitted to salinity and sodicity. The first result was to show that the clay content changes drastically the physical properties of clay-sand mixtures. Important differences were observed as a function of the sand particle size distribution. At given clay content, the saturated Hydraulic Conductivity (HCs) was lower when the sand size was small and spread. For the coarse sand the salinity was maintained, even for high clay contents, a significant hydraulic conductivity. One of the main characteristics of Maghnia clay is the presence of calcium carbonates in the natural material. In comparison to that of Mostaganem clay of other deposit, it appears less sensitive to sodicity. An important aspect is the initial state of the clay when used in addition to sands, i.e., disturbance, conditions of preparation of sand clay mixtures and presence of associated components such as carbonates. Maghnia clay appeared to be adapted to the improvement of sandy soils, not because its mineralogical characteristics, but for its natural cationic form and obviously the presence of calcite in it.

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The development of agriculture in the Mina plain is hampered by the drought that has occurred in recent years. As a result, water scarcity has favoured an intensive use of groundwater of poor quality. This behaviour is one of the forerunners of soil degradation. Knowing the quality of the irrigation water used becomes imperative. In this context, water samples from 178 wells in the Mina plain were subjected to a physico-chemical analysis, mainly electrical conductivity (EC), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), and irrigation water quality index (IWQI), were used to identify water quality classes as well as residual alkalinity (RSC) to determine salinization pathways. The thematic maps established by the two methods (EC and SAR, IWQI) showed that 73.44% of the total area could be used for irrigation and that 87.55% of the total area may be used for irrigation in soils with high permeability where additional water should be applied to prevent salt accumulation. The residual alkalinity revealed two types of salinization: one neutral and one alkaline, representing respectively 149 and 29 wells. The electrical conductivity varied between 2.24 and 16.50 dS∙m-1, divided into two classes of salinity (C4, 44.03% and C5, 55.97%). SAR values fluctuated between a low of 4.28 and a high of 94.73, with S2 dominance accounting for 49.57% of the total area. IWQI’s assessment of groundwater quality revealed that 87.55% of the Mina study area is severely restricted, which is dominant in the southeastern and southwestern parts of the area. The remaining area, 12.44% or less, is in the high restriction category. This simple index uses the most important parameters that evaluate the quality of irrigation water for management.

About 35% of the world’s food are produced in small-scale farms while only occupying about 12% of all agricultural land. However, smallholder farmers usually face a number of constraints and the water resource is one of the major constraints. The usage of smart technologies and especially sensor systems in so-called Smart Farming Technologies can be applied to the optimization of irrigation. Regardless of the irrigation technique, soil sensors are promising in providing data that can be used to further reduce the usage of water. However, despite all these possibilities, the smallholder community are still reluctant to step into technology-based systems. There are various reasons but prohibitive cost and complexity of deployment usually appear overwhelming. The PRIMA INTEL-IRRIS project has the ambition to make digital and smart farming technologies attractive & more accessible to these communities by proposing the intelligent irrigation “in-the-box” concept. This paper describes the low-cost and full edge-IoT/AI system targeting the smallholder farmers communities and how it can provide the intelligent irrigation “in-the-box” concept.