From AI-driven soil sensors to drones and satellites, Pakistan’s farmers are testing precision tech yet skepticism, high costs and policy gaps persist, even as climate shocks make innovation urgent.
On Mahmood Nawaz Shah’s farm, in Tando Allah Yar, Sindh, two six-foot-tall poles stand quietly — one in the mango orchard, the other among the banana plants. Seemingly inanimate, these structures are busy —constantly transmitting real-time data on soil health, monitoring moisture, phosphate and nitrogen levels to a laboratory in Karachi, through the hidden GSM sim cards, powered by small solar panels.
This is just one part of Shah’s tech-operated farmland. Hundreds of kilometers above the earth, satellites silently track changes in soil, temperature and vegetation across his fields. Then there are drones that offer a bird’s-eye view of his 600-acre farmland where he also grows sugarcane, cabbage and cauliflower.
Together, all these aids help his kamdar (farm manager) detect underperforming patches that may not be visible from the ground.
Many farmers like Shah, across Pakistan, are using technology for precision farming, crop monitoring and pesticide spraying. Some are using digital tools to boost productivity, and, to a very small extent, experimenting with robotic machinery for planting and harvesting, explains Dr Shehzad Nahiyoon, a postdoctoral fellow working at the Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Beijing, China.
However, unlike other countries of Asia, where technology is also used for livestock monitoring — tracking their health and safety in farm and grazing fields — Pakistan’s focus remains largely on crops and fruit cultivation. As a result, the scope of agritech in Pakistan is still narrow and does not provide a complete agriculture solution.
“Agritech is not a magic wand,” says Shah. “These tools can assist my manager — be his eyes and ears — but cannot replace him completely.”
Despite his skepticism, he has long used these tools. One of the platforms he relies on is Crop2X, an AI-driven agritech startup founded by Dr Muhammad Khurram. For over eight years, Crop2X has been providing data-driven crop-monitoring solutions through a team of scientists, software developers, hardware engineers and agronomists.
“By combining artificial intelligence with agriculture-specific tools, Crop 2X provides clients with insights on soil, land and weather conditions,” says Dr Khurram. He believes that data can help farmers increase yields while cutting operational costs.
“Technology has not directly improved my crop yield in the last eight years,” Shah points out. “Service providers often oversell the virtues of modern technology,” he adds, despite being a long-standing Crop2X client.
But despite such skepticism, these emerging tools are gaining attention and startups who have long been in this field say there will be space for them. Landowners in the west are realizing the ageing farm labourers may not easily be replaced by their younger generation who are less inclined to take up this back-breaking work. “We may have to think on those lines too,” admits Shah.
“We are in the right place at the right time,” said co-founder of Farmdar, an agritech startup, that promises to eliminate both guesswork and manual field work on what is being grown and how.
Over the past four years, explains Manghi, the company, working with sugar mills, food processors, seed, crop protection and fertilizer companies, is, indirectly reaching out to the farmers with the message that growing more food on more land for more people is not the solution, but that it is knowledge about the land, the soil health, the irrigation pattern, that drives profitability, not just more effort.
Even so, Manghi acknowledges, adopting tech is not easy. Farmers need to see it to believe it. “A farmer will only be convinced after a three to four crop cycles — about two years — when he sees the savings on inputs,” he says. “When the farmer realizes he didn’t waste diesel on unnecessary irrigation, used only as much fertilizer or insecticide as needed — that’s when it clicks.”
Manghi says whether it’s using precise calculations to determine how much land a farmer actually has — so he knows how much seed to sow and avoids over or under fertilizing or irrigating —or predicting weather anomalies to provide early warnings, this kind of information can create a powerful domino effect across the entire value chain.
And it is this knowledge that has helped streamline Shah’s management of the farm. “Just a swipe and I have a full calendar of past sowing and harvesting,” he explains. It also gives him a history of fertilizer and pesticide applications. For Shah, these tools help streamline operations but they’re not transformative.
After eight years receiving data on soil, water and weather, Shah is now looking for technology that can provide deeper, more actionable insights. “I want equipment that can tell me which pest is crawling on a banana leaf, how much of the crop is infested by the bug, should I be worried and what my options are,” says Shah. “These platforms should be trained to identify plants, detect pests and diseases and offer solutions,” he says.
The demand is not unique to Shah. As farmers grapple with increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, changing crops cycles, bringing new pest threats in their wake, reliance on technology will become even more crucial.
Today, says Dr Nahiyoon, advanced plant protection technologies that Shah wants from agritech companies, are available. “Remote sensing and drones help manage these pest challenges. As part of the plant protection department in the Chinese academy, where he specializes in such tools.
Dr. Khurram prefers drones over satellites for crop monitoring. “Satellites give high-resolution images, but they’re costly, slower, and often blocked by clouds,” he says. “Drones fly just 100–150 feet above ground, capturing sharper, more detailed images in real time.” This helps detect issues like pest attacks or plant diseases early, using indicators like chlorophyll levels in leaves. The downside? “Drones require someone on-site and can’t be flown everywhere — unlike satellites,” he adds.
But even other technology is not cheap. When Shah started using these tools eight years ago, each sensor node cost him Rs 45,000, with a subscription fee of Rs 35,000. “I’m sure the rates have sky-rocketed!” he says.
Small farmers — already burdened by the high cost of inputs, unconvinced by the promised returns, and often intimidated by unfamiliar technology, may be unwilling to invest in these tools.
Dr Nahiyoon admits drone technology can be expensive, “In China, small farmers can also access this technology through cooperative models where they can share the machine, or companies provide it on rents.” But, he adds, the Chinese government provides subsidies for intelligent machinery and equipment.
Here, even when farmers are willing to adopt these technologies, he says, there is a significant gap in government policies that hinders widespread implementation. Drone regulation and licensing, for instance, remain unclear.
“One doesn’t know where to go to import these machines, or who is responsible for issuing the license to operate them.” It is time, he said, the government stepped in and recognized that these technologies can play a vital role in boosting agricultural productivity.
“The desire is there,” points out Manghi, defending the government’s intent in integrating technology into farming. “But too much time is spent thinking and planning with very little action on the ground.”
However, recent flood event may force a shift and expose the need for bringing in innovation to the traditional way of doing agriculture. If Pakistan is to survive the challenges, it may have to leapfrog over slow incremental progress and embrace technological solutions at scale. The recent floods may serve as a catalyst, turning intention into action.
A combination of heavy monsoon rains since late June, cloudbursts, and recent water releases from upstream overflowing dams and irrigation barrages in India, have resulted in record flooding across Pakistan. According to United Nations estimate the floods have killed over a thousand people and affected more than six million. The province of Punjab has been the hardest hit, with some areas experiencing the worst flooding in over four decades, displacing more than three million people. With 50-55 % of Pakistan’s population engaged in agriculture, the loss and destruction of infrastructure, farmland, crops, livestock, and food stocks has been immense.
Over 1.3 million acres of farmland in Punjab remained submerged. Satellite-based analysis by the Swiss-based Crop Monitor, estimates that approximately 220,000 hectares of rice were flooded from August 1 to September 16. The Punjab government reports that approximately 35 % of the cotton crop has been lost. While over 6,500 heads of livestock perished, those that survive now face an acute shortage of fodder.Wheat and flour prices have spiked up by 40% in major cities. Damage to some storage facilities in Punjab has disrupted markets, leading to an estimated 40% increase in wheat and flour prices in major cities.
In response to the growing flood threats, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has proposed a national roadmap for resilience to floods for the country to become more resilient. This plan includes 46 key recommendations. Some of these involve updating flood protection plans, setting up better systems to monitor weather and water levels, and building new regional centers to forecast floods and warn communities in advance. It also includes using technology to predict sudden floods caused by glacier melting, heavy rains, and hill torrents. It calls for creating detailed models to understand how climate change affects snow and glacier melt, and building a nationwide database to track weather and water patterns more accurately.
To make all this possible, the government may need to work closely with agritech startups that can provide the modern tools and technologies required for such a large-scale effort.
“Pakistan is sitting on a gold mine with Punjab alone having enough land to easily clear our national debt in just ten years,” says Manghi. While the floods may have caused immense destruction, he believes the same land holds the key to recovery. “Our government must believe — agriculture is our only saviour!”
Dr Khurram agrees that the time for transformation is now. “This is the perfect time for using technology especially in the aftermath of the floods in Punjab,” he notes, emphasizing that crisis can be a turning point – if Pakistan is willing to put faith in the local startups and adopt innovation across its agricultural sector.
“The rivers brought with them huge volume of sediment when it inundated the farmland. We can find out how the soil’s health changed in the aftermath — for better or for worse. “By measuring electrical conductivity, salinity, micronutrient levels, and soil moisture, we can determine whether the land remains cultivable.”
It is tedious work but important nevertheless, as it can help in planning for the next season — such as choosing the right crop for that soil. “But there is a cost attached to this information,” said Dr Khurram.
Manghi acknowledges that their startup can provide any data that government wants. “Our technology is now mature enough to deliver it in incredible accuracy.” He says, “But we’ve not been approached.”
Still, these startups aren’t just making lofty claims. They’ve been trained to handle complex challenges and are equipped with the tools to do so.
In fact, when the going got tough, both Crop2X and Farmdar turned to the National Incubation Centre (NIC) — knocking on its doors for guidance, support, and direction. Established in 2018 at Karachi’s NED University, the centre — backed by leading organizations as well as the Ministry of IT and Telecom — offers mentorship, funding, and resources to help launch their startups.
“When I started my company in 2018, I was struggling to find more work — but more than that, I was looking for a community,” says Dr Khurram, who joined NIC five months after he started. “I wanted to connect with like-minded people, get feedback on how I was running my business, and figure out what I was doing right — or wrong. Through NIC, I learnt so much, got valuable exposure, and made some incredible connections along the way.”
Manghi believes you're never too old to learn. While they were older than most startup founders, one of the most valuable lessons they picked up was “how not to burn through cash too quickly.”
“NIC is a fantastic place for startups to understand the journey ahead,” he says. “From basics like company registration and board structure to deeper insights like product-market fit — they equip you with what you need to improve your chances of success. Plus, they connect you with industry experts who’ve been through it all.”
