7 apps to help revolutionise your farming

Jamila Abass, the chief executive of M-Farm. One of the most familiar apps among farmers in Kenya, M-Farm matches farmers with local buyers across Kenya. PHOTO| COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • One of the most familiar apps among farmers in Kenya, M-Farm matches farmers with local buyers across Kenya. It also offers important information using provided price trends to know the best time to plant your crops.
  • The app offers a support system not just for livestock farmers but veterinary experts and animal health professionals plusnformation on various diseases.
  • Creating an event protocol helps you track each animal’s progress as you track herd costs and computing what you are making from each cow and how each animal is doing financially and which one is failing.

In the “White Paper 2017: Trends from the Kenyan Smartphone and E-Commerce Industry” report by GSMA Mobile and Jumia Business Intelligence, Smartphone penetration across Kenya has risen to over 60 per cent in just five years. One region where the Smartphone revolution is having a significant impact is on farming in Kenya and across Africa.

The following seven are apps helping to revolutionise farming by offering farmers and would be farmers the content they need such as herd breeding management, identifying pests and diseases, finding ready buyers, veterinary information and tracking dairy cattle ROI.

M-Farm

One of the most familiar apps among farmers in Kenya, M-Farm matches farmers with local buyers across Kenya. It also offers important information using provided price trends to know the best time to plant your crops. Once the produce is ready M-Farm connects the farmer with thousands of ready buyers for the most ideal price. An app perpetually being improved, it will soon unveil a guide on what you need to do to plant a typical crop to hit peak production. Farmers in remote areas who might want to remain ahead of their competition will find the market updates a treasure and vital.

iCow

From their 2011 research data, iCow discovered their large trove of information was capable of enhancing yields and boosting incomes from crops, milk production, egg and poultry farming as well as lowering livestock mortality and improving soil fertility from as short as 90 days. The app offers permanent access to highly credible and verified agricultural information and data in a reliable, cost-effective and simple design accessible through an SMS alerts subscription or access to specific farming content 24/7.

Agrobase

App made with agronomist and farmers in mind, it provides a database with agronomic information on weeds, diseases and pests, including diverse pesticides, herbicides and pesticides details from the selected country. Allows farmers to identify pests, insects and diseases early enough to guarantee crop production and protection. The app has been used widely by livestock, horticultural, nut, fruit, vegetable and crop farmers to protect their investment and accomplish higher returns. Constantly updated database offers links to a problem, including a detailed description of the issue and a photo.

VetAfrica

Chiefly made for Android and Windows smartphones, VetAfrica allows any farmer to record their livestock data in the process obtaining diagnostic guidance and advice on the most ideal treatment.

The app offers a support system not just for livestock farmers but veterinary experts and animal health professionals. Information on various diseases is provided, such as Schistosomiasis, anaplasmosis, theileriosis, parasiti gastroenteritis and trypanosomiasis among others.

Urban Farming App

Living in an urban setup and thinking about farming? This app shows you how to grow vegetables with ease through constant interactive reminders. Your smartphone will constantly remind you when your plants need some type of care such as fertilizer or water and how to solve the issue of crop disease and common crop pests.

Apart from information on growing organic and natural food from your urban home, delicious recipes are provided to prepare organic delicacies with ease.

Dairy Live

18-year-old software for dairy farmers and professionals in the dairy industry around the world with a Kenyan reseller, the management software app allows a herd farmer to work smart. Once you have fed information of all your livestock and events such as pregnancy check, vaccinations, semen inventories and breeding you will be able to instantly access your livestock information wherever you are on a computer or smartphone.

Creating an event protocol helps you track each animal’s progress as you track herd costs and computing what you are making from each cow and how each animal is doing financially and which one is failing. The app also comes with a server where you can back up the critical data. Standard charts will help you see how your herd compares with others regionally and nationally.

Breeding Wheel

One of the most critical details on a herd is identification of cattle with reproductive problems, service schedule, identifying animal with shorter lactation period, cow drying date management, and calves distribution, among others. The Breeding Wheel app allows you to access personalised animal data of your dairy herd in the form of a wheel.

File with a specific cow’s data, including the image can be shared between devices for remote assistance from a technician. The kind of app for anyone who wants to manage animal breeding through a Smartphone app.