Ghana has commenced the use of drone technology in farming, as part of efforts to digitise and revolutionalise the agricultural sector.
The Government of Ghana, through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, is considering regularising technologies such as drones in crop diagnostics and precision spraying.
Kenneth Nelson, Managing Director of Qualitrace, providers of Amdrone Tech drones, said the drones are designed in Germany, and noted plans are underway to set up an assembly plant in Ghana to create indigenous jobs.
During field trips by journalists to Bomarts Farms in the Ga South Municipality and the Kosmos Innovation Centre Fields, Kasoa, Central Region, yesterday, he said the application of the drones would lead to an increase in income and productivity of farmers.
About 20 Ghanaian and international journalists were taken on the trips, which form part of activities heralding the Alliance for Green Revolution (AGRA) Forum 2019.
The Amdrone Tech drones come in 15 and 25 litres and have the capacity of spraying two hectares in 30 minutes and 100 acres in a day.
They carry out aerial spraying of pesticides, crop pest and plant nutrition management, agro input services, among others.
He stated that the drones have so far been used in the Central and Ashanti regions for mapping of maize farms, noting that they had 99 per cent accuracy.
He indicated that enticing the youth into agriculture, going forward, would require digitising the sector immensely.
At the Kosmos centre, the team of journalists was briefed on other innovative technologies such as soil solutions, which is to support Ghanaian farmers with the essential knowledge to produce an abundant crop.
The journalists were also briefed about ‘Trotro Tractor’, a platform that uses mobile phones and GPS to connect farmers to tractor operators near them, enabling them to order and pre-pay for tractor services.
Meanwhile, as part of efforts to promote green revolution in Ghana, the ministry has been working assiduously to train university students in coding and greenhouse technologies.
Ghana is expected to host this year’s Alliance for Green Revolution Forum in September.
The forum, to be launched today, is to take place in Accra and would focus on how agriculture on the African continent could be digitised to ‘entice’ young people into farming.
Head of Communications at AGRA, Waiganjo Njoroo explained that digitisation “is the way to go” in revolutionising agriculture in Africa.
According to him, about 65 per cent of Africa’s farmer population are of age, and the introduction of digital technologies is increasingly being viewed as a perfect way to entice the youth, majority of whom are below the age of 35, into the agriculture sector.
Source: The Finder
