Young Computer Scientist Invents Smart Farming Device

By Sibonginkosi Maphosa

Nkosikhona Dube a young computer scientist has come up with a device called the Crop Doctor which is used to detect diseases in crops and testing the soils.

Dube is a son of a war veteran and a beneficiary of the war veterans education scheme.

Showcasing his device at the War Veterans Affairs Pavilion, Dube said using the Crop Doctor is a way of embracing smart agriculture inline with the National Development Strategy 1.

He said , ” The Crop Doctor can detect nutrients needed by the soil to produce good yields instantly at the same time saving farmers time as the soils take up to three months to be tested in universities and other laboratories which offer this service due to backlog. One Crop Doctor can cover a 4hectare farm. The NPK sensor box is connected to the farmer’ s smart phone and that way there is communication between the farmer and the device.”

Dube encouraged farmers to take up this device as he said not only does it detect the problems with crops but also gives solutions by downloading an application through Google play store which also instantly gives solutions.

This year the War Veterans Affairs stand is different as it was show casing the works being done by War Veterans and their descendants in a bid to meet the global market in tandem with this year ‘ s theme of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair ” Transformative Innovation Global Competitiveness”.