From Disadvantaged Youths to Smart Farmers
Smart farming has improved the productivity, quality, quantity, and efficiency of products thanks to real-time monitoring and prediction systems. A few years ago, this was not possible. Farmers can now plant and monitor the field conditions from anywhere by detecting the soil moisture of the farm, the EC (electrical conductivity), TPH (temperature pressure and humidity), pH (acidity of the soil), water consumption and so much more. Upande Ltd has introduced Upande sensors to Osiligi farm. The Upande sensors enable remote monitoring of farm conditions for smart data-driven decision-making.
The Osiligi farm is located outside Kiserian working with disadvantaged youths from the streets, slums, and prisons to transform them into smart farmers. The youth get into the farming program through the Kibera project or the Youth Prison project. These young men are actively involved in the farming activities such as horticulture and business farming. The whole program taps on their motivation to become good farmers and better members of society. The training goes on for two years and later on, they are given either a work placement or full-time employment at a local farm. Agriculture is growing every day and job opportunities in the sector are at an all-time high.
Osiligi farm practices both aquaponics and hydroponics alongside conventional greenhouse farming. The farm uses Upande sensors in all these three systems. Hydroponics is combined with aquaponics in that they practice fish farming and circulate the fish water to the aquaponics greenhouses. In the hydroponics farm, Osiligi monitors the pH and EC to keep track of the health of the fish. After the water has circulated in the aquaponics greenhouses it is then used to water the soil in the conventional greenhouses. This system ensures the recycling of natural nutrients within the farm.
In the hydroponics farm, Upande sensors monitor the pH of the fish water to ensure it is within allowable limits both for the fish and for the plants before the water is pumped to the aquaponics greenhouses. In the aquaponics greenhouses, the Upande sensors monitor the pH, EC, and water temperature ensuring the plants being grown above the water are not under any strain. Lastly, in the greenhouses, Upande has Soil moisture and EC sensors to monitor the water content available to the crops and the conductivity levels. The Osiligi farm manager can access all the data from all the sensors on the farm on a real-time live dashboard from the convenience of his phone.
Smart farming, just like in Osiligi, enables farmers to quickly respond to any significant change in temperature, humidity, as well as the soil’s nature in the field. Smart farm, an Upande solution for tracking and managing all your farm activities.