The Future of Agriculture

The global population of humans keep increasing every year, and the world can no longer count on traditional farming methods to sustain these growing numbers. Approximately 800 million people are already affected by hunger today, thus we already have a very hard time feeding our current population. What happens when the world's population grows to approximately 10 billion in 2050 as estimated by the United Nations? 

Agriculture has to be approached in innovative and ecofriendly ways so as to increase productivity while protecting the environment. These approaches include: greenhouse farming, use of drones in agriculture, precision farming (smart farming), and drip irrigation.

Greenhouse Farming

Greenhouse farming is one of the oldest farming technologies but a rather young technology in the African continent. Greenhouses have been around for almost 100 years. A greenhouse is a framed structure covered with transparent or translucent material such as glass or plastic, in which vegetables, fruits and/or flowers are grown. A greenhouse provides a customized ideal micro-ecosystem for plants to flourish. The farmer must provide the plants with an adequate temperature, sufficient ventilation, water, light and humidity, and must thus set the greenhouse as such. In Cameroon, the main greenhouse supplier is GreenHouseVentures, owned by popular agro-entrepreneur RolandFomundam.

Bell peppers grown by GreenHouse Ventures

Advantages of greenhouse farming include: 

1. The ability to grow off-season crops.

2. Better control of weeds, pests and diseases.

3. Increase in production - more plants are grown per square foot compared to those grown on an open field.

4. Maximized profits - Profits per crop per square meter could be twice or thrice that derived from open field agriculture.

5. The ability to grow year round.

6. Production risks are minimized - plants do not suffer from climate change related events, and birds and animals cannot eat the plants.

7. They offer more reliability and security as every plant requirement is provided internally. The farmer is thus assured of a regular output at regular intervals.
8. Certain farming technologies like aeroponics and hydroponics can only be implemented in greenhouse settings.

Here's a sneak peak into one of GreenHouse Ventures' greenhouses. 

Drones in Agriculture

An agricultural drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) used in agriculture in a bid to monitor crop growth and increase yield. Drones have given agriculture a face lift in recent years, but is still an unpopular technology in most African farms. The market for agricultural drones has already reached $1.3 billion. Drones are a cost-effective way of accomplishing time-consuming and challenging tasks. Agricultural drones are mostly used in:

1. Soil and field analysis - Drones are equipped with smart sensors for data collection which helps in early soil analysis which further provide insights on irrigation requirements.
2. Planting - Drones reportedly decrease planting costs by 85%.

3. Disease and pest control - Drones can detect portions of a farm that have been infested by weeds and other diseases. A farmer can take early appropriate action with such vital input, which contributes to improved farm health.

4. Crop spraying - Drones are most efficient in spraying and limit human contact with harmful chemicals, pesticides, and fertilizers.

5. Irrigation - Drones easily identify the parts of a field that are lacking in water.

6. Crop monitoring - Drones efficiently track crop development and can point out production inefficiencies.

7. Livestock monitoring - Drones are better at cattle surveillance for instance, than shepherds and herding dogs. They can also find lost animals.

Drone Africa by WilliamElong is the first drone-producing company in Cameroon. 

Precision/Smart Farming

Smart farming makes use of modern information and communication technologies to increase the quantity and quality of agricultural produce. The technologies involved in smart farming are:

1. Sensing technologies - for soil scanning, water, humidity, temperature and light management

2. Software applications - designed for specific farm types

3. Communication technologies like cellular communication

4. Telematics and positioning technologies like GPS

5. Hardware and software systems that enable internet of things (IoT) based solutions. IoT refers to the concept of connecting people, animals and devices to the internet so they can collect and share data without requiring human-to-computer or human-to-human interaction, thanks to unique identifiers (UIDs). 

6. Data analytics

Precision farming makes farming more controlled, predictable and accurate using IoT-based approaches. The connected cow for instance provides sensors for various parts of the cow in a bid to reduce mortality rate associated with birth, illness and others; increase milk production and others.

Drip Irrigation

This is the most efficient water and nutrient delivery system for plants. Its goal is to place water directly into the plant's roots and minimize evaporation. It is a method of controlled irrigation in which water is slowly delivered to the root system of many plants through a network of tubes or pipes. The water is dripped onto the roots either from above the soil surface or from beneath.