From field checks to phone alerts: Gujarat woman potato farmer embraces digital decision-making

Priyankaben Chiragbhai Patel’s experience in northern Gujarat illustrates how mobile advice, field sensors and structured agronomic support are becoming part of everyday potato production. Her story also highlights the increasingly visible role of women in farm management and decision-making.

By Lukie Pieterse, Editor/Publisher of Potato News Today

In Nikodia village in Gujarat’s Sabarkantha district, potato grower Priyankaben Chiragbhai Patel is combining family farming experience with digital tools intended to support irrigation, crop monitoring and the production of processing-quality potatoes.

A farmer profile published by IndianPotato.com on March 10, 2026, reports that Patel has cultivated potatoes for approximately six years and has worked with HyFarm, the agribusiness unit of HyFun Foods, for nearly four years.

The profile describes her as an active participant in decisions affecting approximately 30 acres farmed by her family. Her husband and father-in-law are also involved in the operation. Patel is a mother of three and reportedly divides her time between household responsibilities and work associated with the family’s processing-potato crop.

Her experience provides a practical example of two developments taking place within Indian agriculture: the expanding use of digital decision-support systems and the greater recognition of women as farm managers and decision-makers.

A more informed approach to irrigation

According to IndianPotato.com, Patel previously relied heavily on regular field visits and manual observation to determine soil-moisture conditions and irrigation requirements.

Her association with HyFarm has reportedly given her access to the FarmOji mobile application, field-based Internet of Things sensors, soil-testing support and digitally generated crop-management information.

The profile says that soil-moisture readings and related field information are communicated to Patel through her phone. These alerts are intended to help her decide when irrigation is required and how much water should be applied.

The precise configuration of the sensors used on her farm is not specified, nor does the source provide measured before-and-after figures for water consumption. It would therefore be premature to attach a particular percentage saving to Patel’s operation. What the account does show is a shift from decisions based primarily on repeated physical inspection towards decisions supported by remotely delivered field information.

FarmOji’s public Apple App Store listing identifies HyFun Agrilink Private Limited as its provider. The company describes FarmOji as a digital agriculture platform offering real-time crop advice, weather-based recommendations, pest and disease alerts, farm monitoring and traceability support.

These functions are consistent with the broader digital system described in Patel’s farmer profile. However, the exact combination of features available to individual growers may vary according to the equipment installed, the crop programme and the services supplied by HyFarm.

Producing for a demanding processing market

Patel grows potatoes for processing, a sector in which tuber size, dry matter, sugar levels, shape and freedom from defects can influence whether a crop meets a buyer’s specifications.

Soil analysis and more precisely timed irrigation can support those objectives, although technology does not remove the biological and commercial risks inherent in potato production. Weather, seed quality, soil conditions, pest and disease pressure, agronomic execution and market requirements continue to influence the final result.

For Patel, digital information appears to function as an additional management aid rather than as a substitute for field experience. Her description of crop care is deeply personal.

“Just like I cannot compromise on my children’s health, I cannot compromise on the health of my crops,” she told IndianPotato.com.

That comment captures something easily overlooked in discussions about precision agriculture. Behind every sensor reading is a grower who must interpret the information, decide whether it fits conditions in the field and take responsibility for the consequences.

HyFun Foods says it works with potato farmers in northern Gujarat and other production areas through a vertically connected system covering seed, cultivation, storage and processing. On its Seed to Shelf webpage, the company says its growers receive training in seed selection, crop-protection practices and post-harvest handling. The company also reports contract-farming relationships with more than 7,500 growers.

Independent potato-industry coverage has documented HyFarm’s continuing investment in digital agriculture. In March 2025, PotatoPro reported that FarmOji provided access to crop advice, soil-health analysis, water-efficiency guidance, weather and disease alerts, mechanisation services and drone spraying. That report concerned HyFun’s partnership with HarvestEye and did not evaluate results on Patel’s farm, but it helps establish the wider technological programme within which her experience sits.

Good Agricultural Practices certification reported

IndianPotato.com describes Patel’s potato field as Good Agricultural Practices, or GAP, certified. GAP systems generally involve documented production procedures intended to strengthen areas such as food safety, traceability, responsible input use, worker protection and environmental management.

The original profile does not identify the certifying organisation, the particular GAP standard applied or the certificate’s scope and validity period. For that reason, the certification should be reported as stated by the source rather than assumed to be certification under any one international or national scheme.

Even with that qualification, the reference to certification is significant. Supplying potatoes to modern processors increasingly requires more than acceptable yield. Growers may also be expected to maintain production records, demonstrate traceability and follow prescribed procedures governing irrigation, fertilisation, crop protection and harvesting.

Digital record-keeping and field-monitoring tools can help growers meet those requirements, provided the information is reliable, understandable and supported by competent agronomic advice.

Recognition of women’s role in commercial farming

Patel’s story is not simply about installing sensors or receiving information through a mobile phone. It is also about who receives that information and who is trusted to act on it.

Women have long contributed substantially to farming in India, but their work is frequently described as assistance rather than management. The IndianPotato.com profile presents Patel differently: as an active decision-maker working alongside other members of the family enterprise.

Technology alone will not resolve the structural barriers faced by women in agriculture. Access to land, finance, training, machinery, markets and formal recognition remains crucial. Digital services can nevertheless become useful enabling tools when women have direct access to the information rather than receiving it indirectly through another member of the household.

Patel’s experience suggests that practical technology adoption does not necessarily begin with sophisticated machinery or complete farm automation. It can begin with something more immediate: a grower receiving timely information about soil moisture, weather or crop condition and being able to make a better-informed decision.

There are no independently published yield, income, cost-reduction or water-saving results for Patel’s farm in the sources reviewed for this article. Her story should therefore be understood as an individual farmer profile, not a controlled assessment of the HyFarm system.

Its value lies elsewhere. It offers a grounded picture of how digital agriculture is entering daily potato management in Gujarat—and how a woman farmer is taking an active place at the centre of that change.

Sources consulted

Cover image: Priyankaben Chiragbhai Patel.jpg

Editorial note: Personal and farm-level details concerning Priyankaben Patel are attributed to the IndianPotato.com profile. The reviewed sources did not include an independent interview with Patel, farm records or a copy of the reported GAP certificate.