Farmer Charlie brings digital agriculture to South East Asia

Farmer Charlie provides low-cost, smart, localised information and applications to farmers in remote and isolated places. It has recently joined Agri-TechE to bring its technology to areas of the UK poorly served by connectivity.

The company recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kacific Broadband Satellites a high-speed and reliable satellite broadband company.

The agreement will extend Farmer Charlie’s reach into remote communities, enabling the delivery of agricultural advice, localised weather information, and agribusiness information to smallholder farmers and agribusinesses across South East Asia and the Pacific.

Farmer Charlie consists of on-site sensors placed in the field or in a greenhouse and an app which brings the agribusiness ecosystem to the farmer. The sensors detect soil data (e.g., humidity, pH, temperature), which are processed and sent to farmers via tablet or mobile phone, using broadband internet communication.

The agreement will bring fast, affordable broadband directly to the field, where connected weather and in-field sensors, will be able to deliver agribusiness information at a cost that small holdings and remote communities can afford.

The smart digital tools will support  improved land management and food production. It will also help famers to reduce post-harvest loss, better manage the risk of drought, floods, and other extreme weather events and address the impacts of climate change.

Kacific will provide accessible VSAT terminals that connect to beams drawing bandwidth from its powerful Ka-band satellite, Kacific1.

Farmer Charlie will develop targeted systems for rural communities in those markets covered by Kacific, based on the knowledge and expertise it has acquired over the past five years and the solutions it has developed for small and emerging agricultural operations.

“This MOU is a huge milestone for Farmer Charlie’s deployment in the Asia Pacific region. We both aim to support those remote communities with an affordable solution through the provision of smart localised tailored agribusiness information”. said Betty Bonnardel, Farmer Charlie’s Chief Executive Officer. “Together, we will be creating a real impact for the communities we will serve.”

Innovate UK and British High Commission were present at the MOU signing ceremony to support this exciting partnership between Kacific and Farmer Charlie.

Dr. Hanbin Zheng, the Head of S&I, British High Commission, said, “This collaboration demonstrates how UK and Singapore technological expertise can be leveraged to positively impact the lives of farming communities in the Pacific islands, and promote sustainability. It also illustrates how space technology and applications can effectively intersect across sectors and geographies to benefit mankind.”

More about Farmer Charlie