The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu has said that the Ministry will not relent in its efforts making to boost Space Research and Technology growth in order to increase the Nigerian Economy to serve the populace.

Dr. Onu made this known during the demonstration of the Automated Irrigation Technology Intervention System by the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) on Monday, held in Abuja. The Minister noted that the application of Space Technology rightfully will yield positive impacts on agriculture, national security, health services, education as well as manufacturing sector.
With Space technology and this latest innovation, Dr, Onu advised young Nigerians to take to farming and reap maximum benefits in terms of huge profits. He added that the application of space technology will also solve the drudgery of farming and enable young Nigerians to be self-reliant and boost Food security for the nation. The Minister assured Nigerians that the agencies of the Ministry are now poised to roll out more scientific inventions and innovations, he advised the National Research Space and Development Agency to delve into Artificial Intelligence and Robotics as a way of making Nigerian economy to be knowledge and innovation driven. “With this system, we can have agriculture all-year-around”. Today we are growing more rice than we did previously and we are also making very important impact on other crops and it is very important for Nigerians to see that Space Science and technology is very important in helping Nigeria to achieve rapid economic development” he added

Earlier, the Director-General of National Space Research and Development Agency, Prof Seidu Onailo Mohammed said that Automated Irrigation Technology Intervention System will make agriculture smarter, precise and attract young ones to agriculture. The device, Prof Seidu, announced at the event that it had been tested on different types of soil from organic, sandy and clay soil in the last six months, adding that it can be controlled from the comfort of one’s home. He called on the Private Sector to invest in the new technology and reap maximum financial dividends – he added that the Agency emerged as the overall best Research institution in Nigeria beat 17 others Agencies under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology during the Technology and Innovation EXPO’ 2018. NASRDA stood tall among others emerged over all best while Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi, FIIRO, came second with Raw Materials Research and Development Council, RMRDC, taking third position.

Prof Mohammed concluded that the research was based on understanding of science knowledge locally and able to translate to a real life viewing and be useful for the society and as part of efforts making growing our domestic production.

Responding CBSS Director Dr Bonaventure Okere, noted that through the maximum promotion in domestic technology and its advancement, there would be improvement on local and international economy, that would add value to the research knowledge as well generate massive employment for the youth. Okere, however assured that revolution for astronomy and Space development would be the primary objective of the Centre.

The products manufactured by NASRDA CBSS are the Axis Magnetometer with D, H, I Components which is used for characterizing the earth’s magnetic field orientation and simultaneously computes the declination, inclination and horizontal force of the earth’s magnetic field, High Precision GPS System Relays position information such as Latitude, longitude, Altitude above sea level and horizontal speed in about eight digit precision accuracy. Infra-red temperature gun; a non – contact temperature meter for environmental, pollution and soil monitoring System (EPSm) used for comprehensive characterization of environmental and soil parameters. Others include Small Experimental Rover for Terrain Characterisation (SERT-X), an autonomous ground vehicle with obstacle avoidance system for all terrain characterization and UV index measurement. Intrusion detection and alert systems Security device for intrusion detection and real – time intrusion monitoring; Ultrasonic Range finders, for range and distance measurement using ultrasound. The electronic timing and wireless trigger system, a simple trigger system for remote actuation of scheduled systems – this device can be equipped with electronic calendar system for time related automations; and a portable environmental characterization systems, a simple device for taking environmental data and pollution level monitoring with threshold alert systems.