Dimitra announces new Agricultural Technology projects in Nepal
Dimitra Incorporated is honored to sign agreements to deliver Digital Technology & Regenerative Farming Methods in Crop and Livestock with three distinguished organizations within Nepalese agriculture: The NMC (Nepal Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd.), the JBS (Jiwan Bikash Samaj), and Nepal Krishi Care (NKC) Pvt Ltd. These Nepalese organizations consist of hundreds of thousands of farming-based households to whom Dimitra will provide new and innovative technology solutions for Nepal’s agriculture sectors. The goal is to ensure effective delivery to market and improve profitability for the following Nepalese crops; dairy, cereals, fish, fruits, vegetables, seed production; from farmers to end consumers with a framework of sustainable livelihood development in Nepal.
The Nepal Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd. aims to serve its members and continuously improve member health, member education, and improving environmental footprint. The NMC plans to raise members’ economic and living standards by giving members more agricultural knowledge via technology to help with self-reliance, mutual support, a sense of frugality, and encourage the good habit of saving.
“We are trying our best to figure out how to do better for smallholder farmers. I am happy with this participant program, I don’t know how we can improve, and I think I can learn from you all on where we can improve knowingly, thank you.” — Mr. Ram Chandra Uprety, Chairman, Nepal Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd., Mechinagar Municipality, Jhapa, Nepal.
Jeevan Bikas Samaj (JBS) is a national-level NGO in Nepal established to improve marginalized people’s socio-economic and cultural circumstances. The JBS mission is to enhance the quality of life of poor people by increasing their access to resources. The JBS provides solutions for Nepal’s supply chain and the Nepalese agricultural sectors.
“ I think this is a big opportunity for us. This is the first step and I hope all these things give us a lot of knowledge and information and technologies I think especially in MIS systems and software systems. I think we can increase our bigger benefit to the local community, especially farmers. Thank you.”- Mr. Yogendra Mandal, Executive Director, Jiwan Bikash Samaj, Morang, Nepal.
Nepal Krishi Care (NKC) Pvt Ltd provides solutions for the value supply chain problem in the cereal sectors of agriculture within Nepal. The NKC is a social enterprise that supports innovative technologies and practices, including the internet of things (IoT). The NKC provides consulting services in different stages of the agricultural value chain.
“We feel privileged to be associated with this kind of function and having this agreement with the world-renowned Dimitra, thank you to the Dimitra team. We are really hopeful that we can use the long experience and wide experience of Dimitra in the agriculture sector in Nepal in general, and for Nepal Krishi Care in specific.”-Dr. Ramchandra Khanal, Director, Nepal Krishi Care, Belbari, Nepal.
Dimitra Incorporated is a global technology company that provides an ecosystem of agricultural technology products to advance smallholder farming performance through mobile technology, IoT sensors, artificial intelligence, blockchain, satellite imagery, and drones.
“I think with NMC, NKC, and JBS we will have long and fruitful partnerships and we’ll learn a lot from each other, we can bring some of our technology, we can bring all our knowledge from other countries, I am sure we will learn a lot about Nepal markets, about Nepal methods and all of the successes of Nepal Agriculture. Each country we go to, we learn a lot about that country and we learn more about ourselves.” — Jon Trask, CEO & Founder, Dimitra Incorporated
Dimitra is committed to these leading Nepalese organizations and will help enhance productivity and double Nepalese farmers’ income by adopting digital technologies and regenerative farming methods in crop and livestock management. Dimitra will use a combination of Blockchain, IoT sensors, and more to provide a cutting-edge supply chain management platform that will also maximize and automate sales and marketing processes and digitize their supply chain. Dimitra will provide technology, training, applications, and share knowledge with farmers which will strengthen Nepalese institutions and enhance farmers’ productivity and profitability. My farm, my crop, my livestock, sensor management, satellite and weather modules will be used to create awareness and lead to more sustainable farming practices in Nepal. Dimitra will work collaboratively with JBS, NKC, and NMC to create an implementation plan and will monitor the results during the engagement with specific objectives that are of interest to all partners. Dimitra is looking forward to all the great opportunities that this agreement will bring.
“I am very glad to be a part of this agreement ceremony between these three organizations who are linking to 400,000 farmers of the province and Dimitra. It’s a great day actually. I would like to congratulate all of you and there is, I hope that one objective, doubling the income of farmers of that area will be definitely increased with the use of this technology and the government of Nepal will be always with you. Another thing that I would like to share with you is how this technology can be transferred to the other provinces and the demand for the technology should be created among the farmers of the other province. Now, we are in a digital world and we are linking with this program in the digital world and we always struggled with new technology. Clearly Province One is the first to accept the new technology and take leaps for using this one and with the small one. Now we have three organizations who are really working with the farmers for their wealth and everything. I hope that the objective of this agreement will be fulfilled and the government of Nepal will definitely like to join with Dimitra and in the future within our rules and regulations. This is really great and I hope that with our hard work, this will continue in the whole country and will definitely increase the numbers of farmers in Nepal and that Jon will always support Nepal by interlinking farmers with the digital world. Lastly, I would like to congratulate once again to all of you, thank you.” — Mrs. Niru Dahal Pandey, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Kathmandu, Nepal.
One of Nepal’s primary export commodities actively contributing to the local and national economy is the Highland orthodox tea sought after in international markets because of its quality, aroma, taste, and aftertaste.
Current practices are that Nepalese tea farmers pick tea with their “two-leaves, one-bud” recipe and then roll the leaves and buds by hand before oxidizing them. The tea is then put into containers and exported to India where it is packaged and released via Indian tea distribution channels. It is often branded not as Nepalese tea but Nepalese-Indian tea by other international companies versus a Nepalese company. Consequently, the Nepalese tea farmers fail to receive higher international market prices, which tempts them to increase their yields by using chemical fertilizers and pesticides to make up for lost profits.
Large cardamom is the number one commodity produced in Nepal, and its exports have doubled this year. The spice has a strong, camphor-like flavor, with a smoky character obtained from these drying methods. It is commonly used as a culinary spice and in some Chinese and Indian medicines. Like the Highland orthodox tea, large cardamon is grown and packaged in Nepal and transported to India, where it is sold on the International market.
When the pandemic arrived, so did an increase in demand for large cardamon. However, Nepali cash crop entrepreneurs have faced many challenges trying to keep up with the demand due to the high cost of production, inadequate storage facilities, tariff and transportation constraints, and the lack of knowledge from actual production to export markets.
The Highland orthodox tea and large cardamom are just two examples of how Dimitra, NMC, JBS, and NKC will work together to make a difference in Nepal using digital technology and regenerative farming practices in crops and livestock.
Jon Trask, Dimitra Incorporated’s CEO and Founder, states, “Together, we are looking forward to future collaboration with Nepal Governments and the Agricultural Sector, and together we will strive to digitize agricultural processes across Nepal. Deploying advanced technologies starting with mobile access and then adding artificial intelligence, blockchain, IoT sensors, and satellite imagery, will help develop a collaborative ecosystem. Other areas of focus will be Highland Orthodox Tea (Nepal is known across the globe for its world-class tea) and Large Cardamom; Blockchain can play a key role in identifying the provenance of Nepal’s crops.”
For more information, please contact Jon Trask, info@dimitra.io. To read our official press release, please visit: http://www.einnews.com/pr_news/559848677/dimitra-announces-new-agricultural-technology-projects-in-nepal
