May 25, (THEWILL)- The Provost/Chief Executive Officer of the Federal College of Agriculture, Ishiagu, in Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Dr Michael Okoronkwo, has disclosed that the College has acquired drones to enhance precision agricultural practice.
He disclosed this during the 36th matriculation ceremony of the college, held in its auditorium.
According to him, the administration of the college has been undertaking training of manpower in various vocations; fish farming, cassava etc, in the entire southeast as most of the people who benefited from the scheme have been empowered to start up their enterprises with the stipends they received.
He said, “Matriculation confers on fresh students, full membership of the College. Our matriculation oath requires students to be diligent in the pursuit of their studies, acquire the requisite knowledge and abide by the laws of the college. As fresh students, your pledge to put up good behaviour, you are committing yourselves to be disciplined and to be good ambassadors of the college.
“We employ you to eschew the attractions of cultism, corruption, examination malpractice and other vice. We make bold to state categorically clear that the Federal College, Ishiagu has zero tolerance for cultism and cult-related activities and exam malpractice. We have efficient security and legal architecture within the campus and will stand by you in the event of proven cases of violations of your rights. We implore you to work within the ambit of the law, nevertheless.
“The college is charged, among other things, to train middle-level manpower and carry out cutting-edge research in various areas of agriculture, agro-based issues and development. We have implemented a Wireless Internet Facility in the College by Tenece Wireless. Staff and students of the college community have free and high-speed access to the World Wide Web for research and collaboration with institutions across the globe.
“We currently acquire drones for Precision Agriculture practicals in agricultural land mapping, nutrients and soil moisture data management, scouting for pests and diseases management, fertilisers and pesticides application and yield counts.
“We have also concluded our partnership with Sentinel Satellite Remote Sensing data-driven agriculture. These are new frontiers in agriculture and driving the needed change in agricultural productivity improving yields and reducing cost, providing our students the opportunity to be at the front of recent technology advancements in Agriculture in the world leveraging on Data Analytics, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.
“These are novel projects and positions in the school as adept in current trends in digital and precision agriculture technologies in terms of completeness of vision and execution, equipping the students with the knowledge of current trends in agriculture making them indispensable in work places and spheres”, he said.
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