GASPRO International Journal of Eminent Scholars

ABSTRACT

This study was to assess the prospects of drone technology and its roles in sustainable agriculture and national food security in Nigeria. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The study was conducted in Nigeria. The population of the study consisted of all agricultural scientist and home economists in Nigeria. Stratified sampling technique was used in selecting 50 agricultural scientists and 30 home economists which was drawn from each of the geographical zone in Nigeria. This gave a total of 480 sample size used for the study. The instrument used in this study for data collection was a questionnaire titled " Assessment of Drone Technology in Nigeria Questionnaire (ADTNQ)". Face and content validation of the instrument was carried out by an expert in testing, measurement, and evaluation to ensure that the instrument has the accuracy, appropriateness, and completeness for the study under consideration. The reliability coefficient obtained was 0.80, and this was high enough to justify the use of the instrument. The researcher subjected the data generated for this study to appropriate statistical techniques such as percentage analysis. The test for significance was done at 0.05 alpha levels. The drone's most important benefits are that drone mapping provides farmers with very important data such as soil type and texture, climatic conditions, and vegetation study of a large piece of land. A farmer could use a drone to know what the crop yield of the farm is with data acquired from drone mapping. Agriculture plays a major role in the maintenance of national food security in various ways, such as through the production of foods that have attained food availability in the nation. The advancement of agriculture into the production of various kinds of food materials has ensured the food utilization by citizens in the nation. One of the recommendations made was that awareness should be made to farmers concerning the existence and benefits of drones in agriculture. Also there should be a formulation of legislative regulations on the use of the technology.

KEYWORDS: Drone, Drone mapping, Benefits and Limitations