This Pakistani Startup is using artificial intelligence to combat water shortage faced by local farmers

With the water crisis situation growing out of hand and the country on the verge of drying out by 2025, a Pakistani startup ‘Aqua Agro’, incubated In National Incubation Center Karachi, has a technological solution for the farmers to yield more crops with fewer water resources.

The startup has indigenously developed solar-powered IOT enabled devices that are deployed in the fields and monitor environmental conditions such as soil moisture, temperature, humidity, and various other parameters. The data from the farms is then sent to an AI-based cloud platform that makes the decision for the farmers on whether the crop needs irrigation or not.

Over 80 percent of Pakistan’s water expenditure is based on irrigation. To avoid the water-starved future which is turning into writing on the wall with each passing day, it is necessary to cut down on water currently being used in irrigation.

The system has been proved to save 50% water as compared to the water consumption in a farmer’s traditional practices and has also observed an increase in crop yield. Farmers are communicated about watering the crops through SMS, email and a mobile application.

The startup aims to raise funds for deploying the technology for 50 small-scale farmers of Pakistan by January 2019. For this purpose, Aqua Agro is running a crowd-funding campaign on Indiegogo.

The co-founder Dr. Muhammad Khurram, in an interview, stated:

“We are raising funds to deploy the system on a large scale of 50 farms. We currently have 6 customers who have ordered more devices after their first crop cycle using the technology. Not only have they been able to save 50% water but have also observed 30% to 35% more crop yield. We believe that the successful results from 50 farms deployment will build the confidence of the rest of the farmers of the country to adopt the technology. We have launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to gather initial funds for installing our devices at 50 farms.”

Those willing to contribute to this cause, can back Aqua Agro’s crowd-funding campaign and become a part of the cause to combat water crisis which will help the country’s agriculture sector survive with fewer water resources and cast an overall positive effect on the country’s economy.