Technology Eases Farming ‘Drudgery’ and Risk as Climate Threats Grow
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
By Laurie Goering
In India, farmers growing crops for seed company Mahyco get a text message after they deliver their harvest, noting its weight and how much was usable – followed quickly by another text saying their money is in the bank.
That reliable flow of cash through their accounts means when a farmer goes to ask for credit, the bank is much more likely to give them a loan, said Usha Barwale Zehr, director and chief technology officer for the Maharashtra-based seed firm.
As climate change makes farming far tougher and more young people reject it as a career, technological innovations to make the work more secure and appealing can help, agricultural specialists told the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship in Oxford this week.
Giving small-scale farmers access to the right-sized farm machinery, for instance, can help reduce backbreaking labour and keep more people on the land, Zehr said.
Photo courtesy of pixelfusion3d.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation (link opens in a new window)
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