The Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy has shortlisted 10 startups that would be provided with grants under its Fourth Industrial Revolution Technology Application (4IRTA) in Agriculture programme.
According to the Ministry, the startups whose projects are elected will receive up to N10 million in funding to deepen the application of 4IR technologies in their work.
The supervising minister for the Ministry, Bosun Tijani, who unveiled the selected projects, said the initiative is in support of President Bola Tinubu’s mandate to cultivate 500,000 hectares of land across Nigeria to boost food security.
The Ministry of Agriculture is expected to provide support to the selected pilot farms and navigate a path to scale and sustainability.
Announcing the shortlisted projects for the program, the Communications Minister in a statement, said, “I am pleased to announce the 10 shortlisted grantees for our Fourth Industrial Revolution Technology Application (4IRTA) in Agriculture.
“In November last year, we invited applications from applicable market-ready innovations that leverage 4IR technologies (UAVs, IoT, AI, and Blockchain) to enhance productivity in Nigeria’s Agricultural Sector.
“In the 2 weeks of the application process, we received 2,329 applications, which then went through 2 rounds of reviews, supported by top 4IR Technology researchers and practitioners of Nigerian descent across the globe. The reviews applied criteria such as the alignment of the proposed solution with the objectives of 4IRTA, solution readiness and the quality of their video demonstration.
“Congratulations to the 10 selected projects as we look forward to working with them in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture to support their path to scale and sustainability.”
According to the Minister, the 10 selected startup projects include: Agri-Wing Project, Ranch.ID LivestockPro, Precision Farm Management, Automated loT-Based Irrigation System, and Geospatial Intelligence model for enhanced prediction of crop yield and crop stress assessment.
Others are AgriTrust Solutions by Ledger Labs Ltd, Alfor Livestock diseases and health reporting, loT Climate-Smart Device, Smart Pond (SP), and Future Fish Farms.
