Mobilink has launched BaKhabar Kissan, an application exclusively dedicated to Pakistani farmers.
The app provides necessary information relating to the agricultural needs like farming techniques, weather forecasts, cultivation methods, market rates of crops, animal husbandry, government schemes and other agricultural news. The app is designed in Urdu language and it also uses voice response technology.
Agriculture constitutes the largest sector of Pakistan’s economy, contributing to about 25% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and also provides employment to a large number of people. Timely statistics are needed for agricultural crops like wheat, maize, sugarcane etc. BaKhabar Kissan aims at enhancing the agricultural economy and helping farmers. It provides guidance and online training to the farmers.
Mobilink is planning on investing and harnessing its telecommunication strength to the agricultural sector in order to provide the farmers with the latest agri-information. The application was introduced at an event that took place in Haripur where Minister of Agriculture of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Mr. Ikram Ullah Khan Gandapur, and Syed Babar Ahmad, Mobilink’s Head of Products were present along with hundreds of farmers. Syed Babar said,
“With the launch of our ‘Ba Khabar Kisaan’ service, Mobilink is showcasing that mobile operators can offer much more than just basic communication facilities. This service is in line with the direction we took by re-introducing Jazz, as we now want to offer our subscribers freedom of choice, digital empowerment and the power to do more with less; ultimately becoming the first Telco to reach out and reshape all echelons of society.
We believe this service will play an integral role in ensuring farmers get their due reward for playing an important role in the society by transforming their ability to increase crop yields, improve efficiency and grow incomes.”
The app is divided into subsections: Agricultural News, Voice recognition, Crops, Livestock, Products, Market Information, Weather Updates and Videos.