In a bid to boost food security in the country, the Federal Government has introduced automated irrigation technology which enables farmers irrigate their farms with their phones.
The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) who is the brain behind the project says the technology uses satellite to determine locations in longitude and latitude.
Minister of Science and Technology Dr Ogbonnaya Onu explained that the government is using its space science technology beyong sending people or satellite to space but to better the lives of citizens.
Onu stated this in Abuja as he revealed that the technology is the first indigenous automated irrigation system in the country.
He added that the agency is also working in the areas of artificial intelligence and robotics to make sure that not just agriculture but all sectors of the economy benefits from the technology.
He stated, โ Space science and technology is not just what a lot of people think, like just sending someone to the moon, it is far more than that, arising from the knowledge that we get from space science and technology we can work on all the vital sectors of the our economy including agriculture, their is no sector that is left out, every sector benefits from innovations arising from space science and technology, today, what we have witnessed here is very important, this is the first indigenous automated irrigation system in the country.
โWhat this is doing for us is that we can now have agriculture all year round and using solar to power the irrigation system, it will help make young people show interest in farming since they can now make money, by farming several times a year, by this we are going to make farming more attractive and more technology is on its way.
โWe assuring Nigerians that the National Space Research Development Agency is ready to do more, we are working in the areas of artificial intelligence, robotics to make sure that not just agriculture but all sectors of our economy benefits from technology.โ
Director General NASRDA, Prof. Seidu Mohammed explained that the technology has been tested on different soil types and it equally takes care of various crop varieties.
He said, โWe make use of signals from navigation satellite to determine locations in terms of longitude and latitude.
โThis has been tested on different soil types and it also takes care of various crop varieties, it is able to create a perfect intervention in agriculture, it makes agriculture smarter, precise and enable the young ones go back to agriculture.
โIts a product that operates in three months, you can be at the comfort of your home and irrigate your farm, you can go to the farm to irrigate it and also be automated in such a way that on its own, without you doing anything, it waters it at a particular time and soil moisture level.
โWhen the system is set between 8am and 9am for instance the system constantly checks the condition of the soil and reports on the screen ones the soil moisture gets below 15% it triggers up the pump and irrigates the whole farm and ones the soil level gets to 50% it shuts down, we donโt have to physically be at the farm.โ
