MONROVIA – The Ministry of Agriculture through the support of the Africa Development Bank and the Global Agriculture & Food Security Program has procured 40 Agrocares Soil Nutrients Scanners for extension workers and farmers around the country. The soil scanners will help our farmers to detect the nutrient deficiency in the soil and recommend possible fertilizer to be used to increase the productivity of the crop. This technology is first of its kind to be brought in the country with the support of the Africa Development Bank and the Global Agriculture & Food Security Program. The soil scanners will benefit farmers in the 15 counties to test the soil for suitability for planting and improvement of the soil.
Uses
The soil nutrient scanner is based on high-quality sensor technology and is used for soil monitoring and testing purposes to determine main soil fertility parameters deficiency and recommend the needed fertilizers to improve the soil productivity and increase food production. The soil scanners use near-infrared and EC sensors combined for analysis. The soil nutrient scanners are fast, smart, and easy to use the handheld tool and connected way to analyze their crops, raw material, and soil and will help the farmers to make better-informed farming decisions.
Farmers response
The farmers are happy that they finally have a breakthrough in doing soil analysis to know the status of their soil and needed recommended fertilizer before planting in the soil. Prior to the soil nutrient scanners coming, farmers were just planting crops in the soil without knowing the status of the soil fertility and as a result, they have experienced low productivity in some areas. They can now do simple and smart soil scanning and get the nutrient status of soil, crops, and raw materials in just 10 minutes. This can help them to make an informed decisions on the type of fertilizer to apply and the crop to cultivate in a particular soil.