NADI-BASED unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturer and operator, Skyward Industries Ltd, says the sugar and agriculture sectors are poised to undergo a technological revolution with the digital mapping of parts of the country.
CEO Kevin Rotsaert said Skyward Industries was heavily involved in the advanced digital mapping of the sugar and agriculture areas — and the information derived from the exercise would be of immense benefit to both sectors.
“We have begun advanced map testing suited to Fiji’s geography and vegetation since mid-last year,” he said.
“With the successful trials and conclusions we moved further into the integration of advanced agricultural digital mapping systems for different government and private departments across Fiji.
“Our advanced maps produce high resolution three dimensional models, capable of numerous ground calculations, advanced modeling, terrain water flow management, volumetric calculations, cadastral, just to name a few.
“This really is the next leap in global geographic information systems and remote sensing solutions and practices which are currently changing the way societies around the world plan, manage, and treat our finite resources.”
Acting Ministry of Agriculture permanent secretary Uraia Waibuta said GIS technology was the key tool being used to undertake a mini-survey of all agricultural activity across the country.
“The last survey was manually done in 2006 and this time round we are conducting a mini-survey using GIS technology to update our database,” he said.
“We need to capture everything that is happening on the ground and the type of information we will be looking at is the different crops under cultivation, the number of farms and farmers involved in crop production and the total area under agriculture.”
The GIS and remote sensing work being carried out in the sugar and agriculture sectors is being conducted with the assistance of the Food and Agriculture Organization, Secretariat for the Pacific Community and SOPAC.
