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Thailand’s start-up scene is giving birth to a new breed of tech entrepreneur — such as Aukrit Unahalekhaka, who came up with the idea of creating an app that helps small farmers boost yields using artificial intelligence and machine learning.
After returning from the United States, Unahalekhaka and Usman Javaid, whom he met at MIT, co-founded Ricult in 2016. The start-up aims to improve the livelihoods of farmers in Thailand and Pakistan.
His partner handles the business in Pakistan, while Unahalekhaka oversees Thailand, where he is focusing on the central provinces of Lopburi, Saraburi and Korat, working with corn and cassava farmers in particular.
400,000 farmers
Ricult’s mobile app has so far signed up almost 400,000 farmers in Thailand, according to Unahalekhaka.
“In the past two years, we have worked a lot with the central banks and many research institutions. We have shown that our technology has increased the farmers’ income by at least 50%, as a baseline,” Unahalekhaka told CNBC’s “Managing Asia.”
The Ricult app gives farmers access to data to help them make better decisions throughout the farming cycle. The platform analyzes weather patterns and advises farmers on when they should start putting their seeds into the soil and when to add fertilizer.
A farmer in a rice field in Thailand.
Pipat Yapathanasap | iStock | Getty Images
But getting farmers in Thailand to adopt the new technology wasn’t easy.
“Bringing in new technology to totally change the way...
Read Full Story: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/29/thailand-start-up-ricult-has-mobile-app-designed-to-boost-crop-yields.html
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