Fresh out of college after completing Bachelor of Engineering in 2013, Anil Regmi began doing gigs and projects related to information technology.

Then in 2015, Ncell announced a nationwide competition for app developers with a prize of Rs500,000.

“App developers were energised, and got to work to create a unique app to win the prize money,” said Regmi. “I did some research and found out that not much work had been done in Nepal to connect technology with agriculture. And so I developed the Smart Krishi app.”

Regmi didn’t win the competition, but he kept working on his concept of connecting information technology with agriculture.

Now, Smart Krishi has become an all-in-one app for farmers. It produces information necessary for farmers in the form of videos and texts, such as the format of business plans and proposals, government notices and agriculture news.

But the app's x-factor is a collection of step-by-step guides for different kinds of farming.

Regmi's company has teamed up with horticulture expert Shiva Yendyo, livestock experts Bharat Raj Gautam and Arjun Pandit, and agribusiness management expert Niranjan Pande to prepare the content and provide consultation to farmers.

The company's website contains guidelines on 18 types of fruits, 20 varieties of vegetables, 14 types of animal husbandry activities, nine cash crops, five food crops and four medicinal herbs.

It provides detailed information on the different varieties of each species, the climatic conditions suitable for each of them and a crop calendar.

The company has also prepared profiles of common bugs and diseases that infest crops along with pictures for easy identification by farmers and preventive and curative measures for each of them.

“We want to reach farmers in far-flung places, so we have prioritised creating video content on TikTok and YouTube which is understandable for people who are not so tech-savvy,” said Regmi.

It also creates videos of farm tours, podcasts with farmers to share their farming journey and podcasts with agriculture experts to provide ideas and suggestions to farmers. Regmi claims that their video contents reach more than 3 million viewers monthly.

The company also helps farmers prepare financial projections, proposals and other documents to apply for loans from banks.

The company has put together a directory of agro vets, agricultural equipment suppliers, agriculture-related government and non-government organisations, veterinaries and traders.

In addition, Smart Krishi receives feedback, queries and problems of farmers via social media platforms and connects them with consultants to provide solutions.

“We want to create a sustainable ecosystem of agriculture and agribusiness by connecting farmers with innovative business ideas, the latest equipment and agro vets through our platform,” said Regmi.

“Smart Krishi helps farmers make agriculture a sustainable business.”

Due to its innovative approach to solving agricultural issues, Smart Krishi was listed among the top five companies across the world in Youth Agripreneurs Projects 2016.

Smart Krishi's journey has not been a bed of roses, however. Most of its employees and partners left for foreign employment, and Regmi has been trying to build a new team to take the journey further.

In the initial days, the company's revenues came mostly from advertisements of agro-vets and training fees collected from farmers. And then the Covid-19 pandemic struck, and everything came to a stop.

“Even then we conducted around 76 training sessions virtually to help farmers during the lockdown,” said Regmi. “But a large number of farmers have left farming altogether due to the economic slowdown which sent the cost of production soaring.”

Smart Krishi currently relies on consultation fees and sales of agricultural equipment to fund the creation of its digital content.

The company has been encouraging farmers to lower their cost of production by making animal feed out of locally available resources instead of relying solely on commercial feeds and growing highly nutritious grasses to increase animal yield.

Regmi added that in many cases, farmers tend to practice the traditional method of farming even after obtaining training for innovative farming.

“There are several flaws in government policy that are preventing agriculture from becoming innovative and commercialised in Nepal,” said Regmi.

“The government has not allocated adequate budget funding for agricultural innovation, which is a must to lower the cost of production and increase output. The government does have any reliable plan to combat issues like the current lumpy skin epidemic either.”

According to Regmi, the problem is red tape that prevents agriculture from being commercialised in Nepal.

"The lengthy and excruciating paperwork for insurance claims, subsidised agriculture loans, government subsidies and so on is preventing agriculture from becoming commercialised," he said.

“Our company is doing its best to make farming innovative, but a lot more effort of every stakeholder is needed for a holistic change,” said Regmi.