2 Nepali firms receive US Data-Driven Farming Award

Kathmandu / Sept. 8:Two Nepali firms have been awarded with US Data-Driven Farming Award for Innovative Agricultural Solutions in utilising information and communications technology to improve agricultural productivity.

In a statement, the US Diplomatic Mission said Kathmandu-based ICT firm Db2Map received US $100,000 for its FEOKrishi program that integrates satellite data with government and crowd-sourced information to assess land and soil conditions to help farmers maximise crop yields.

It further said ICT for Agriculture based in Nepal, bagged US $ 50, 000 for their mobile and web-based platform that provides comprehensive agricultural information to rural farmers.

The US Government’s Feed and the Future Initiative awarded its global Data-Driven Farming Prize to four firms around the world for their innovative solutions in utilising information and communications technology to improve agricultural productivity, it said in the statement.

Other prize winners include German-based PEAT and Canadian-based Spero Analytics technology firms, received US $ 100,000 and US $ 50,000 respectively, as stated in the statement.

“Data should no longer reside on computer servers at research institutes. We must make it open and accessible to Nepal’s farmers, agribusiness owners, and all stakeholders across the agriculture value chain. This is what we mean by “Data-driven farming.” Amy Tohill-stull, Acting Mission Director at USAID said.

Kathmandu-based US Diplomatic Mission said the programme was launched in February 2017 by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Data-Driven Farming Prize attracted a total of 143 applicants from 21 countries, including 83 from Nepal. Of the 13 finalists, six were from Nepal.