Agriculture entrepreneurs are bringing the digital age to Pakistan’s farmers, helping them plan crops better and distribute their produce when the time is right.
Until recently, “the most modern machine we had was the tractor”, Aamer Hayat Bhandara, a farmer and local councillor behind one such project told AFP in “Chak 26”, a village in the agricultural heartland of Punjab province.
Even making mobile phone calls can be difficult in many parts of Pakistan, but since October, farmers in Chak 26 and pilot projects elsewhere have been given free access to the internet, and it is revolutionising the way they work.
Agriculture is the mainstay of Pakistan’s economy, accounting for nearly 20 percent of gross domestic product and around 40 percent of the workforce.
It is estimated to be the world’s fifth-largest producer of sugarcane, seventh-largest of wheat and tenth-biggest rice grower, but it mostly relies on human labour and lags other big farming nations on mechanisation.
Cows and donkeys rest near a muddy road leading to a pavilion in Chak 26, which is connected to a network via a small satellite dish.
This is the “Digital Dera”, or meeting place, and six local farmers have come to see the computers and tablets that provide accurate weather forecasts, as well as the latest market prices and farming tips.
“I’ve never seen a tablet before,” said Munir Ahmed, 45, who grows maize, potatoes and wheat.
“Before, we relied on the experience of our ancestors or our own, but it wasn...
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