Soil test scanners drive up yields with Sh650 ten minute tests

Hand-held soil scanners are reducing the cost of soil tests for farmers by more than half and the time it takes to get their soil test information from weeks to just 10 minutes.

Introduced by the Dutch Company AgroCares, the handheld scanner gives farmers an on-the-spot report of their soil and recommends what fertilisers they should buy to improve them. Working with extension officers and registered agrovets, these tests have increased the farm yield of over 20,000 farmers by 25 per cent without any additional costs to the farmers.

The ability to conduct soil tests and quickly improve soils ahead of planting is one of the key predictors of return on investment for Africa’s farmers. Studies have shown that farmers who carry out the simplest soil tests increase their yields by an average of 5.01 per cent regardless of whatever else they do.

Most soil tests currently take two weeks and cost an average of Sh2,500. AgroCare’s instant tests cost about Sh650 per test. Because they work with expert agronomists, they also do not require farmers to have expert soil test sampling skills– unless they are taking their own samples to an agrovet.

As a simple explanation of how the on-the-spot soil tests work, AgroCares Business Development Manager Mukami Gitau said that the extension worker or agrovet owner tests a soil sample using the handheld scanner, uploads the data from the scanner to the AgroCare app where it is analysed and a soil report with what fertiliser to use to improve the soil is given as a soft copy. These results can even be printed out with a mobile printer.

“Once the extension officer or agrovet has taken a soil test sample and connected to the AgroCare mobile application, through Bluetooth they can tell the farmer in less than 10 minutes their soil fertility status, the nutrients and macronutrients their soil needs, its pH, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, soil organic carbon, and cation exchange capacity. With all this information, an agronomist can advise the farmer on exactly what organic or inorganic fertiliser they need to buy so that he can experience a boost in his soil,” she illuminated.

In Bungoma, Nandi, Kakamega, Homa Bay, and Migori counties, for example, AgroCare is currently working with 500 agriculture extension officers and 100 agro-dealers under the Boosting Sustainable Food Production Action in Kenya.

Mukami additionally pointed out that AgroCare’s app can store the farmer’s details. This includes their farm’s GPS coordinates and boundaries. You can also put in the crop or crops the farmer is growing and their yield history.

This information can be used to tell farmers which crops are best suitable for their soils and land, monitor their soil’s fertility improvement over a long time, inform farmers of issues like poor fertiliser application and where their farm’s nutrients are leaching, and gauge the potential of their land.

AgroCares Kenya: 0728-970-136

_{Photo Courtesy: NFP Connects}