Experts in the agriculture sector will now be able to monitor crops and yield forecasting by satellite imagery and artificial intelligence.
The Directorate of Resource Surveys & Remote Sensing (DRSRS) has signed an MoU with Kenyan Agri-tech Company Agrvision to develop a digital crop monitoring platform.
This according to Charles Situma, Directorate of Resource Surveys & Remote Sensing (DRSRS) will help in providing an advanced analytics tool to enhance data-driven decisions, and contribute to the social and economic development of the agriculture and forestry sectors in Kenya.
Through a five-year strategic partnership plan, the two institutions seek to develop a nationwide unified platform for crop monitoring and yield forecasting powered by Satellite imagery and artificial intelligence.
Speaking during the signing of the MoU at the DRSRS head office in Nairobi, Situma said the agreement will bring the two entities’ expertise into action to develop a smart unified platform to digitally monitor and classify crops around Kenya.
“As the official institution advising the Government of Kenya on matters related to Remote Sensing and Geographical Information systems(GIS) and gathering of data on the environment and natural resources around the country, DRSRS entered into this strategic collaboration with Agrvision to work together with an Agri- tech expert in developing the right digital tools and usage of advanced data collection and analytics technologies," said Situma.
"This will help the agricultural sector and decision-makers in the country, have full visibility and data-driven decisions that enhance food security programs to achieve better sustainable results.”
Oscar Mwai, Agrvision Chief Operations Officer said they use and customize crop monitoring and forecasting digital tools to develop a unified platform to work as the main source for data collection and analytics for the agriculture sector.
Mwai said; “We believe that agriculture should be not only a smart but also a sustainable industry. That’s why we’re committed to simplifying the remote sensing-based precision agriculture technology, making it universally accessible and practical".
"This is by using cutting-edge Ai/ML models and algorithms to analyse big Agri-data that is collected and provide highly-precise information about fields, crops and forests. This will help government institutions and decision-makers to create more sustainable food security programs.”
He explained that the crop and forestry monitoring platform, will collect data from different sources like satellites and engage it with advanced analytics for vegetation indices, water stress, soil moisture, temperature effect and weather forecast.
“This will provide end-user with useful descriptive and predictive insights. These insights are visual, simple-to-understand pieces of information that can be used to make action in agriculture and forestry easier, and they will also help in saving time and resources," said Mwai.
"We believe that this collaboration with DRSRS with the in-depth knowledge they have on the agricultural mapping and remote sensing will add strength to the development and customization process for having the digital platform up and running.”
