As calls for promoting climate smart agriculture and trade initiatives for sustainable economic growth gear up, Customized Aviation Solutions, a company using modern aerial survey drone technology, is coming in to offer smart agricultural solutions to farmers in Uasin Gishu to increase yields by ensuring rapid, safer, accurate and affordable delivery of geospatial data, to enable farmers to make informed decisions faster.

In an interview with KNA, the company’s Director Alex Mugane pointed out that they provide farmers with digital, informative, intelligent and precise field management for crops such as maize, wheat, sorghum, avocado, coffee, tea and even forest trees to enable them develop a proper inventory for their farms.

He added that this empowers agricultural operators with more convenient and efficient options, reduces operation costs, improves crop quality and increases yield rate.

‘We are offering solutions in agriculture specifically for mapping and survey of farms to give farmers an efficient d
igital data which is key in making informed decisions during pre-planting, planting and post planting stages,’ he explained.

He noted that during planting, they do scouting of the crops as the drone called the multi-spectra which is capable of conducting Geographic Information System (GIS) aerial mapping to millimetre accuracy, helping the farmers to get the overlay pictures of above ground photos which give the scope of the crops, which helps them know the specific areas to target in terms of fertilizer application, determine germination rate and decide whether replanting is required or not.

Additionally, Scouting also helps farmers to know the elevation and contours of their land so they could undertake appropriate soil and crop protection management measures. For example, knowing the elevation of the land would help farmers know where the water would gather when it rains and know how to plan their tilling to address the problem.

‘After planting, you will be able to know the plant population and also bef
ore harvesting you do the inventory crop counting, mass calculation for crops which will give you an inventory of what you expect to harvest. That will aid you in doing store management for example if you have high yields, you will be able to plan on your storage. You will be able to plan what to market and what quantities to market and the expected income,’ alluded the director.

‘That will help you manage your expectation and the next time you do planting; you will use that data to plan your farming well,’ added Mugane.

He indicated that the company is partnering with the Ministry of Agriculture for Uasin Gishu County to basically help farmers to use this technology for smart farming as per the theme of the year; Promoting Climate Smart Agriculture and Trade Initiatives for Sustainable Economic Growth.

He said the reason for partnering with the county’s ministry of agriculture is to enable Uasin Gishu farmers to increase their yields using data collection technology with digitisation to help them increase
their yields and at the end of the day, they would be embracing smarter ways of farming and not the traditional ways.

‘It is a cost-effective solution and we offer the services at an affordable fee depending on the acreage. It is affordable for small scale to large scale farmers,’ he said.

He alluded that technology would play a significant role in helping the county know the expected yield and income from all farms across the county for a particular season.

Mugane hinted that they were looking forward to partnering with more stakeholders to assist them up to the community in terms of enabling them to increase the economic value of the whole county through agriculture.

The Uasin Gishu County administration is also implementing strategies to involve youth in agriculture and integrate technology to enhance production.

The County Executive for Agriculture Edward Sawe and his ICT counterpart Eng Lucy Ng’endo, held a meeting to discuss effective ways to involve young people in agriculture, while at the same t
ime utilizing technology to bring positive change to the sector.

Sawe said the move was aimed at improving agricultural sector transformation and empowering young people to tackle unemployment by utilizing their innovative ideas and energy to boost productivity and tackle poverty.

Eng. Ng’endo emphasized the significance of technology in enhancing agriculture’s potential by promoting digital tools like mobile applications, precision farming techniques, and data analytics.

‘Utilizing technology in agriculture would not only make farming more efficient and sustainable, but also make it more appealing to the youth,’ she said.

In his remarks, the Chief Officer for Agriculture Elphas Kesio noted that tapping into the immense potential that lies within the combination of youth and technology in the agricultural sector was key to maximizing production in the sector.

The county senior officials hinted on providing training programmes on agricultural technology and developing collaborative platforms for knowledge
sharing.

Source: Kenya News Agency