Mobile app to help farmers

ELLANIE SMIT WINDHOEK A young mobile application developer has designed a smart farming app called Agrotech, which can help farmers in growing crops.The app sends farmers notifications on when to water and fertilise as well as other relevant information until crops are ready to harvest.Currently, the Android version of the app is completed, and if all goes well, the iOS version will also be developed. The brain behind the app is 30-year-old developer Leonard Akathingo, who grew up at Eunda in the Omusati Region. He said he started working on the app at the beginning of the year.Teamwork“Later on, a few friends, all with different skillsets, joined me and fortunately one of them is an agronomist and food scientist who was able to feed Agrotech with the relevant information.”Akathingo said the app will offer an integration platform between farmers, agronomists and other service providers. He added that the app will guide farmers on the stages of growth, colour of leaves and height of plants, and match these with expected dates of growth. The user simply selects their plant from a list of options and chooses the growth stage based on an illustration. The app also lists the most effective product(s) for each growth stage.FeaturesAdditionally, the app lists which fertiliser can be safely mixed with herbicides, insecticides or fungicides.Other features include creating quotations and invoices, in-app purchases, GPS directions, one-touch calling, an automatic crop irrigation system and an agrotech camera.Akathingo added that a statistics hub for agriculture can also be found on the app, which may be useful for major stakeholders.Funding neededHowever, he said, funding is key in developing apps. “We will need to complete the iOS version. We need a team of agronomists to come on board, an IT organisation and all line ministries from information and communication to agriculture.”He said they have acquired a 20-hectare piece of land on which they want to test the app with a team of agronomists. “To fully complete development of the application, it will only take three to four months.”

Mobile app to help farmers

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-01

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Mobile app to help farmers

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-01

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