Another first from NUST

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The National University of Science and Technology has developed an artificial intelligence-generated application, The App Crop Doctor Solutions, that provides farmers with knowledge and solutions for almost all major crops.

The App, which was developed by a Nust student, Nkosikhona Dube provides information about all major crops, as well as details about diseases, insects, and nutrient deficiency of crops for the benefit of farmers.

Nust director of Communications and Marketing Mr Thabani Mpofu said besides benefiting farmers the app will also benefit the whole agricultural and livestock sectors.

“The application was developed by our very own student, with the aid of his team. His name is Nkosikhona Dube and he has won several accolades.

“There is need to disseminate knowledge on smart agriculture and climate-smart agriculture has led to the development of the Crop Doctor Solutions to publish magazines to help farmers better understand this topic and share their stories.

“The application is fully developed and has features that include market updates, Government schemes, and knowledge centres. It also imparts knowledge regarding crop variety, production, and protection,” Mr Mpofu said.

He also said Zimbabwe has about 7,1 million smallholder and communal farmers occupying a total of 21 million hectares of the 33,3 million hectares used for agricultural purposes.

“In general, communal and smallholder farmers occupy areas of lower natural potential for agriculture in terms of rainfall, soils, and water for irrigation.

“These areas are of lower economic potential because of the distances from markets and poor communication and social infrastructure. Fully optimising and improving the yields in these areas will go a long way in attaining SDGs number 1 and 2,” he added.

Last year another student from the institution developed an almost similar app, aimed at making farming easier through the provision of farming data to farmers.

Mthandazo Ncube who was studying Computer Science at Nust developed an app, which mainly targeted youthful farmers said he believed he would revolutionise farming.

Ncube said his application mainly targeted youthful farmers who always want to be on their cellphones to improve crop production.

Ncube said his application educates farmers on how to effectively and efficiently work on the land to boost production, provides detailed information about farming opportunities in each of the country’s provinces and crops that are recommended to grow in a particular province.