ISLAMABAD ( PRESS RELEASE )
Telenor Pakistan, along with Telenor Microfinance Bank, has joined hands with Agriculture Department of the Government of Punjab and the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) for the flagship program “Connected Agriculture Platform Punjab.” PITB seeks to capitalize on the immense potential offered by Digital Mobile technology, smartphone penetration and branchless mobile banking services to uplift the Agriculture Economy of the province.
As part of the program, Interest-Free Loans to small holder farmers will be disbursed through EasyPaisa Mobile Wallets while Telenor will also develop a digital platform comprising multiple mobile and web apps to help millions of farmers in Punjab to improve their yield through easily accessible advisory of modern agriculture practices and improved access to agri experts and agriculture input providers.
According to estimates, Punjab has over 10 Million farmers out of which approximately 2 Million are already using smartphones and the number is growing every day.
As part of CAPP Program, 500,000 plus eligible farmers will also get 3G/4G-enabled smartphones along with free SIM cards and data bundles. To enable farmers to utilize the full potential of this platform, hundreds of facilitation centers and booths will be established across the province and training of thousands of farmers and creating Digital App Gurus at each Mosa/Village level.