By peteroluka
Despite the persistent challenges to IoT in agriculture in less developed regions with remote areas tend to lack communication network infrastructure, Enextgen Wireless Limited says that Nigeria can still make best uses of the new technology.
The Company disclosed plans for basic research on sensors that could be of advantage to local farmers, which could be referred to as agriculture 2.0.
According to a World Bank report, farmers need to be presented with the right incentives to buy into IoT systems, whose upfront installation costs are still quite expensive.
Enextgen Wireless is unperturbed hence the researchers are determined to tackle these challenges.
Enextgen Wireless model could follow what Mimosa Technology has done in Vietnam where it has assisted smallholder farmers to adopt IoT-enabled precision agriculture by leasing hardware devices to farmers’ cooperatives, which has helped lessen the cost burden on smallholder farmers.
Another example is Eruvaka, an Indian startup that provides IoT-based aquaculture pond management solutions to help farmers like Nguyen reduce risk and increase productivity.
Though, still at the research stage,Mr. Kola Olaosebikan, managing director of Enextgen Wireless Ltd told Nigeria CommunicationsWeekthey are working on the means of creating some sensors that could be used in the farm; “simply call it Internet of Things (IoT). We are experimenting on that now.
“For the future, that is the area we would want to focus on. Likewise, the buzz is on 5G, though it will not become commercial till 2020, but most service providers in the US are on 5G trial mood. The technology will enable a lot of things like Internet of Things (IoT)- communicating through packets of data.
“We are leveraging our small lab to investigate things along IoT. Our aim is to build solutions to assist the agricultural sector. That is our long term goal. Presently, our resources are geared toward helping the service providers ensure quality delivery,” he said.
The possibilities are endless for the Company’s new found space in the agricultural, but information is essential when it comes to deploying IoT for agriculture.
Continuing, Olaosebikan said, “Yes, research and development (R&D) is somewhat a complex situation because to have a reliable R&D the government has to pay attention to education. That will also spur individual enterprises to do much in that regard. There is also need to pay attention to the engineering studies in our academic institutions; giving the students access to measurement equipment, various network infrastructures and so on”.