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Bloomberg
The lack of reliable crop data is a chronic problem for Indonesia and a start-up is on a mission to change that by using blockchain technology.
A Jakarta-based startup HARA is using blockchain to collect and manage farm data, from soil and crop conditions to pest infestation, cultivation process, land ownership and grains transaction in a bid to help improve farmers’ livelihood, according to Chief Executive Officer Regi Wahyu.
“Our mission is to provide rural smallholders access to various farm goods, financing and crop insurance,†Wahyu said in an interview in Jakarta.
“The holy grail for accessibility is availability of accurate and transparent data†which can help farmers in getting loans to finance their production, he said.
Creating accurate data is crucial for Indonesia, where some key information, such as crop output, can vary from one agency to the other.
It has become a priority for the new Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo, who pledged to harmonise and create a single data set within three months.
Wahyu hopes HARA can work with the government to develop reliable agriculture data.
Blockchain is an online ledger that records transactions using encryption to ensure security while allowing a network of users to verify them.