Rocketmine Ghana has launched its agricultural solution services alongside a seminar in Accra to educate farmers and stakeholders in the agriculture sector on the use of drones for efficient agricultural production. The seminar was attended by farmers, technology enthusiasts from Ghana and other participants out Ghana who connected via zoom.
In a deck presentation, Business Development Manager for Rocketmine South Africa, ZanderVan Pletzen, took participants through the use of drones for crop spraying, crop health assessment, livestock counting and LiDAR technology for high resolution mapping services.
The crop spraying drones are mainly designed to aid farmers in efficient pesticide and fertilizer application whiles that of crop health analysis are designed with sensors capable of generating information on the health of a particular crop. This enables the farmer to know the state of his crops and also specifically direct his focus and resources on areas that are under stressed and needs attention. Mr Van Pletzen appealed to farmers take advantage of these modern technologies in order to make agriculture a success in Ghana.
On the issue of affordability, especially by the smallholder farmers, Country Manager for Rocketmine Ghana, Eric Delabrousse said though every new technology comes with a cost, the cost gap will be closed if farmers form cooperatives. He therefore entreated farmers to group themselves into farmer cooperatives to help them access modern technological farming methods at cheaper rates. Eric Delabrousse urged the farmers who need their services to contact his outfit. He also calls on government entities & organizations to assist small scale holders to collaborate with the private sector for the overall benefit of the farming community.
“If you want us to help, contact us
so we find a way to collaborate
to get this technology to work for you to help
increase your produce’’
– Eric Delabrousse
Rocketmine is a Delta Drone company, which has been providing engineering services particularly in Ghana’s mining sector for the past three years. The Rocketmine agricultural solution is its newest phase in addition to the engineering services it provides.
A presentation of results for a 15-day Ghana based trials on some farms in the Eastern Region of Ghana on crop spraying and data analysis was made to drum home the benefits of drone technology in agricultural production. There was also an exhibition of various kinds of drones, sensors and LiDAR technology equipment.
