Ricult Farmer App Boosts Smallholder Farmers' Incomes

​Digitalization is enabling the agricultural sector in the developed world to improve crop yields, fine-tune crop strains, and access better economic opportunities. However, farmers in developing nations have often been left behind. The Ricult Farmer App aims to change this.

Developed by teams at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ricult operates in Pakistan and Thailand. The app offers smallholder farmers free access to weather updates, satellite imagery, pest management tools, and measurement aids, using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). It also helps farmers secure loans for urgent needs.

According to co-founder Aukrit Unahalekhaka, around 400,000 farmers in Thailand have signed up to access the Ricult Farmer App. The platform has also increased farmers’ income by at least 50 percent. Ricult is often compared to a robo-advisor for its range of features.

Additionally, RicultX, another platform, enables farmers to monitor harvests and create yield forecasts. It also interacts with satellite imagery maps to improve decision-making based on prediction models.

Rebecca Gaskin Gain

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