Geoinformatics in Agricultural Development: Challenges and Prospects in Nigeria

The paper reviews agricultural development in Nigeria, in the context of the emerging technologies of Geoinformatics, specifically Remote Sensing, Geographic Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS). It expounded on the principles of Geoinformatics and their relevance in agricultural development. A critical analysis of the prevailing situation in Nigeria reveals the shortcomings of the current methods of data collection, analysis and management. This emphasizes the need to adopt Geoinformatic methods to improve agricultural productivity to meet the nutritional need of the teeming Nigeria masses as well as for export income. The challenges in this wise are low level of technological development, inconsistency and inept implementation of government policies, low level of investment, small land holdings, heterogeneity of cropping systems and market imperfection. To surmount these constraints a number of measures are suggested. have assumed alarming proportions largely because the rate of growth in the sector has not been commensurate with that of population. Hence, the need to improve agricultural productively is real and urgent. A fundamental constraint of agricultural development in Nigeria is the use of poor methods of data and information acquisition on agricultural land potential, crops condition and farming activities. The consequence is poor knowledge and unreliable data for agricultural planning and policy formulation. For instance, unguided use of land whose consequence is often the misuse of prime agricultural land is characteristic of agriculture in Nigeria. This has adverse implications for agricultural development since the bulk of agricultural production takes place under traditional systems, with a high dependence on natural forces and processes for the maintenance of yield and the quality of produce (Areola 1991). To address the problem of misuse of agricultural land and improved productivity, it is necessary to adopt Geoinformatic techniques of Remote Sensing, Geographic Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS), which enable the acquisition of relevant and timely data and information on agricultural land and activities. For instance, improvement in remote sensing technology have opened newer possibilities of improving agricultural statistics systems as it offers accelerated, repetitive and spatial-temporal synoptic view in different Correspondence: