Farming made easy with agri-tech
The agricultural sector is rapidly influenced by newly-applied technologies.
However, farmers continue to face problems of pests and diseases, which adversely affect productivity and profitability of their enterprises.
Agriculture is critical to ensuring food security and contributes to mitigating climate change.
Chief Technology Officer of Anton Tech, Tumo Kgosiyame, says farmers are often in need of the assistance of agronomists and veterinary officers for expert advice and recommendations but securing a suitable expert takes time.
Anton Tech is a machine learning based Agri-tech solution that uses image data remotely sensed from devices which detect pests and diseases, predict soil organic carbon (SOC) levels and provide recommendations for appropriate treatment. “An agronomist may need to scout a field for hours during pest and disease outbreaks,” Kgosiyame said.
He added that Anton Tech aids both established and developing enterprises with crop and animal disease detection, field mapping and chemical spraying. Anton Tech is still integrating into already existing mobile applications. The 23-year-old is a Computer Systems Engineering graduate from Botswana Accountancy College (BAC). His company was established in March 2020 and currently has five employees. The company was self-funded with over P50 000 to purchase a few materials needed for production when they first began. While waiting for funding from Botswana Innovation Fund (BIF) to purchase additional machinery, Anton Tech is already in operation, remotely working and also offering consultation to farmers. They have worked with local companies such as Leseding farms and Tselayaagwe Investments. “Agriculture has been part of the global food supply chain for decades. For most of us who grew up with our parents and grandparents who were actively involved in the agriculture space, we experienced many agricultural problems first hand. “This gave us insight concerning how technology can solve many problems that surround us,” Kgosiyame said. Speaking on the future of technology in Botswana, Kgosiyame said that Southern Africa still lags behind in adopting technology to solve problems even beyond agriculture.
He said technology has the ability to bring significant and measurable impacts in all sectors of the economy.