By Patrick Ofoe Nudzi, GNA
Accra, Oct. 1, GNA – Engineering students of the Accra Technical University (ATU) and some officials from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have been taken through the application of drone-based crop spraying technology and logistics delivery system.
The demonstration of the technology which took place at the Accra Technical University’s Mpehuasem Campus, in the Ga West Municipality, brought to bear firsthand Korea drone technology and how Ghana could leverage on the opportunities to advance her sector.
The event was a joint effort from the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and Korea Transportation Safety Authority (KTSA) with support from ATU under the Drone Competence Development Academy training which seeks to equip students with cutting-edge innovations and advanced solutions for Ghana.
It brought together officials from the GCAA, Ministries of Food and Agriculture, Transport, Land and Natural Resources, Science and Environment, Defense, Accra Metropolitan Assembly and Ga West Municipal Assembly.
Experts from A Tech Group Korea, who are the manufacturers of the drones, presented three different drones with the first one designed purposely for taking videos and pictures and the second, the Black Star Alpha Plus, is expected to be tested by GCAA to ensure that it meets Ghana’s regulatory requirements and International standards.
The Black Star Alpha Plus had also been designed to suit Ghana and become the model on which other similar drone could be manufactured. The last one, which is the pest control drone had also been designed to spray pesticides on a 1.5 hectares (3.7 acres) of land.
The pest control drone has a tank that can contain 16 liters of pesticides and spray the 1.5 hectares of land between 15 and 17 minutes. It can also be manufactured to suit Ghana’s agriculture sector with the aim to make it seamless and user-friendly especially for Ghanaian farmers when approved by GCAA and
It has a multipurpose Flight Controller (FC) that can be loaded with data and adjusted to operate depending on the kind of operations undertaken. The FC could also be set to an automatic control system.
Mr Michael Tagoe, Ghana Representative of A Tech Group Korea, said Ghana’s transportation infrastructure remained somewhat underdeveloped and building such facilities could be a catalyst for growth and an acceptable alternative solution was the use of drones.
Mr Tagoe, who is also the Quality and Safety Manager, Accra Technical University Drone Center, said, drones played a vital role in the fourth industrial revolution by addressing challenges, adding that by transferring the Korea technology to Ghana, the manufacturers hoped to contribute to improving the quality of life for Ghanaians.
He said the demonstration was part of series of training programme called Official Development Assistant (ODA), advanced training programmes, which starts hopefully next month.
Mr Jacob Tetteh Lartey of the State Regulation Department, GCAA, said the demonstration and subsequent programmes were a Ghana-Korea partnership which came into being within June 2025 this year where GCAA and other organisations would take actions in improving the drone sector within the country.
“The Korean drone technology will provide us with support, we will have drones that are customized to the needs of Ghana and our data will remain in Ghana. So, safety and security will be of concern whenever they come over to support the drone sector in Ghana,” he said.
He said: “We want the technology to reach far and wide such that everyone will be able to contribute significantly to the growth in agriculture. We invited policy makers to come and see how we can leverage on the technology to benefit the ordinary people on the streets, including the farmers.”
GNA
Christian Akorlie