An Emeritus Professor at Iowa State University, USA, Prof. Andrew Manu, is calling for the use of unmanned aerial systems (drone) for the expansion of rice production enterprise in the country.

He was optimistic that the use of drone technology to upscale rice production to sustain the sector.

Prof Manu made the remarks when he took his turn at the Research Seminar Series organised by the School of Agriculture of the University of Cape.

The Seminar was on the topic,"Prediction and Mapping of End of Season Rice Yield in the Tono Irrigation Scheme using UHAS (drone) Generated Data".

Some Participants in the workshop

Making reference to the statistics of Ministry of Food and Agriculture from 1999 to 2020, he maintained that Ghana was in dire need of sustain domestic production of good- quality rice for import substitution and saving foreign exchange.

He said the Ministry had trained Agriculture Extension Officers to provide technical assistance to farmers as regards to drone technology. 

Prof. Sam Amoah (L), a former Provost of the College of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, presenting a citation to Prof. Andrew Manu,a Professor at Iowa State University.

Prof. Manu appealed to government to further invest in drone technology to increase many commodities, including cocoa and not only rice production, whilst underscoring the significance of adding nitrogen to rice plants to increase yield.

The seminar was chaired by Prof. Sam Amoah, a former Provost of the College of Agricultural and Natural Sciences.

Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC