Unlocking Agri-Tech’s Potential in Pakistan: Lessons from the Field

This policy brief titled ‘Unlocking Agri-Tech’s Potential in Pakistan: Lessons from the Field’ has been completed by The Pakistan Business Council (PBC) as part of “Grow More/Grow Better” pillar of its “Make-in-Pakistan” thrust. This policy brief explores the transformative potential of agri-tech in addressing the persistent challenges in Pakistan’s agriculture sector, maps the current landscape and draws on case studies to highlight its potential to boost yields, reduce losses, and strengthen agricultural value chains across Pakistan.

Pakistan’s agriculture sector—home to over 8 million farm holdings—faces persistent challenges: low productivity, fragmented markets, limited access to finance, and growing climate stress. Agri-tech holds real promise in addressing these issues. Startups and larger agribusinesses are now experimenting with tools that range from satellite-based crop intelligence and remote irrigation control to digital payments, input marketplaces, and smart warehousing.

This policy brief maps the current agri-tech landscape in Pakistan, highlighting the areas where innovation is gaining ground: digital platforms for market access, smart irrigation and water management, precision agriculture, financial inclusion, and real-time advisory services. Drawing from in-depth case studies—including Farmdar, RemoteWell, Godaam Tech, and Engro’s UgAi platform—the brief examines what’s working, what’s scalable, and where bottlenecks remain.

The findings are clear: while innovation is alive and growing, scaling remains difficult. Most adoption is still concentrated among large, progressive farmers. Hardware-based models face high transaction costs. Farmer trust is built slowly, often through repeated exposure and word-of-mouth. And without foundational infrastructure—like rural connectivity, digital land records, and interoperable data systems—most solutions remain local and fragile.

The brief offers targeted recommendations including strengthening digital payments and warehouse receipt financing, investing in shared infrastructure, co-funding demonstration plots, clarifying regulatory roadmaps, and supporting ecosystem builders with long-term capital. A standout insight is that agri-tech adoption in Pakistan is often driven not by information, but by finance—and not by promotion, but by proof.

Agri-tech is not a silver bullet, but it can be a catalyst. With the right enabling environment, it has the potential to improve yields, reduce losses, expand financial access, and strengthen supply chains. The opportunity now is to move from pilots to platforms—and to ensure that digital agriculture works not just for the few, but for the millions who need it most.

The PBC is a private sector not-for-profit advocacy platform set-up in 2005 by 14 (now 100) of Pakistan’s largest businesses. PBC’s research-based advocacy supports measures which improve Pakistani industry’s regional and global competitiveness.