IBM Research, Hello Tractor Pilot Agriculture Digital Wallet

Using machine learning and the IoT, tractor fleet owners will be able to view and manage fleet utilization and predictive maintenance as well as forecast future tractor utilizations based on history, real-time weather and remote sensing satellite data. In sub-Saharan Africa, more than 60 percent of crops are managed manually, with less than 20 percent managed by tractors and other machinery, an unsustainable model as food demand increases due to population growth averaging 11 million per year. In addition, up to 50 percent of farmers suffer post-harvest losses annually due to poor planting practices. This was the motivation behind startup Hello Tractor, a mobile platform that enables farmers to access tractor services on demand. Using a mobile app, the service aggregates tractor service requests and pairs them with recommended tractors and operators, while simultaneously tracking how many hours each piece of equipment is in the field and area serviced.