By Rasheeda Hamidu
An agritech expert, Bisola Aduba, has urged Nigeria to adopt drone technology and digital soil mapping to increase food production, saying precision agriculture offers a sustainable solution to the country’s growing food security challenges.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report published on Wednesday said Aduba called for greater investment in precision agriculture to help farmers increase productivity on existing farmland instead of expanding cultivation into shrinking agricultural land.
She said states such as Benue and Southern Kaduna should prioritise technology-driven farming to increase yields without encroaching on grazing routes and worsening farmer-herder conflicts.
“To double yields on half the land without encroaching on stock routes, farmers in Benue and Southern Kaduna must shift from land expansion to data-driven intensification,” Aduba said.
She explained that digital soil mapping enables farmers to identify soil acidity, nutrient deficiencies and organic matter levels, allowing fertilisers to be applied only where needed, reducing waste, lowering production costs and restoring degraded soils.
Aduba added that drones equipped with multispectral sensors could detect crop stress, pest infestations and moisture shortages before visible symptoms appear, enabling timely intervention and reducing production losses through targeted spraying.
She further noted that sensor-guided irrigation systems, automated planting equipment and geo-fencing technologies could optimise water use, improve plant spacing and reduce conflicts between farmers and pastoralists by clearly defining farm boundaries and grazing corridors.
NatureNews notes that precision agriculture technologies are increasingly recognised as climate-smart solutions that improve resource efficiency, conserve soil health and strengthen agricultural resilience amid climate change and declining arable land.
Aduba urged governments, agricultural extension services and development partners to expand farmers’ access to digital soil information, drone services and other precision farming technologies to improve food security, increase farm incomes and promote sustainable land management across Nigeria.
