FEDPONEK trains students on ‘smart agriculture programme’ in Imo State
By Athan Agbakwuru, Owerri
Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, FEDPOLYNEK , in Owerri, Imo State has organized and concluded a 3-day training programme for selected students on smart agricultural practices.
The programme convened by Dr. Nwamaka Okafor(Principal Investigator) and Prof. Laeticia Onyejegbu(Co-Investigator) with the support from AlumNode -Heidelberg Laureate Forum, was the first of its kind and first kicked off at University of Port Harcourt.
The programme with the theme, “Leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things for Smart Agriculture, with a view to promoting technology, ensuring food security and providing environmental sustainability in Nigeria,” was designed to equip the students with requisite skills to leverage innovative technologies to drive agro advancement.
In his opening speech, Dr. Okafor represented by Prof. Onyejegbu remarked that the reason for selecting mostly girls from Agricultural Management and Computer Science Departments as participants, was to advance the technology and its benefits to the country.
“By focusing on young female students, this initiative is not only fostering technical skills but also addressing the gender disparity in STEM fields, empowering these students to become innovators and leaders in the field, driving progress within their communities and beyond.
“The training was designed to equip participants with relevant and essential skills for developing end-to-end IoT applications, adding that it covered the used of IoT sensors, Raspberry Pi devices alongside their integration with wireless sensors networks to facilitate the collection, curation and effective data use in smart agriculture.
“Through this program, over 100 students will receive practical hands-on training in building and deploying innovative AI-enabled IoT solutions for smart agriculture,” she stated.
Dr. Okafor described ‘Smart Agriculture’ as successful agriculture, pointing out that women were essentially selected for the programme because of their productive nature and disposition.
Speaking earlier while performing the flagging off ceremony, the Rector of FEDPOLYNEK, Dr. Basilia Igbokwe, thanked the conveners for choosing her institution for the training programme.
The Rector represented by Dr Friday Ibeaja, Deputy Rector, advised the participants to take proper advantage of the opportunities and make judicious use of the knowledge they would acquire from the training programme.
When interviewed, a student participant, Miss. Rita Ononiwu of the Department of Computer Science
commended the organizers for the initiative describing the training programme as intellectually enriching.
Also, Miss. Echezena Okoye of the Department of Agricultural Extension Management stated that the programme had equipped them more with skills to engage in successful agricultural exercise.
“It has made the participants to suffer less and gain more in the field of successful/smart agriculture. When we put together all the applications we were taught, we can stay at home and successfully monitor what is going on in our farms. We can produce more and gain more by this technology in agriculture.”
She said, “I am happy, I am studying Computer Science. With this programme, I know now that I can diversify my computer knowledge in other productive aspects of life apart from the already known conventional ones. I thank Dr. Nwamaka Okafor for this initiative and for bringing it closer to us at the Polytechnic”.
The programme attracted renowned academics among whom are: Dr. Obasi Oko (former Poly’s Deputy Rector), Engr. Benjamin Agwa, Sir Alphonsus Ohia and Chief Steve Igwe and numerous others.
