Edéa, Cameroon — Cameroon farmer Rostand Simeu, 26, final yr spent all his financial savings to begin a plantain and banana plantation.
However, like all new farmers, he has struggled with environment friendly manufacturing.
Simeu mentioned the bananas have been rising for 13 months. He mentioned this raises loads of questions.
Simeu heard a few Cameroonian firm that helps farmers in distant areas to investigate their soil high quality and to assist select crops.
Expertise startup Clinic Agro created a package with a cellular software known as Clinic Sol for immediate soil testing.
Founder Pyrrus Koudjou mentioned he invented the package to assist farmers who had been shedding cash.
He mentioned it is extremely essential as we speak for the farmer to have the ability to analyze his soil. Why, asks Koudjou? As a result of figuring out his soil means with the ability to safe his funding, scale back using pesticides and enter prices, and enhancing productiveness and agricultural profitability.
Most Cameroonians work in farming as agriculture is likely one of the primary staples of the economic system, however consultants mentioned many farmers usually are not skilled to investigate soil for effectivity.
Agronomist Rodrigue Ngono trains farmers on the state’s Binguela Sensible College of Agriculture.
He mentioned soil evaluation is essential to getting higher outcomes and leads individuals towards “precision farming.” It’s about figuring out the precise quantity of vitamins {that a} plant will want, mentioned Ngono, to ensure that it to be produced [most] profitably.
For farmer Simeu, the Clinic Sol evaluation exhibits his soil high quality is poor and really acidic.
The app recommends he swap to planting cucumbers, lettuce, eggplant, pineapple, or cassava.
After the outcomes, farmer Simeu mentioned he doesn’t intend to cease farming, particularly since he now has a associate with Clinic Agro, which is supporting him. He mentioned he’ll transfer to new land, check new samples of soil, after which transfer on to crops apart from plantains.
Clinic Agro mentioned in only one yr, since its creation, its cellular package has examined soil high quality for almost one thousand farms in Cameroon.
