Harvest Link PNG

Growing a safer and healther crops through linking Rural Farms to Urban Markets.

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Inspiration

Our roots lie in rural communities, where many subsistence farmers work with nutrient-rich soil and grow an abundance of fresh produce. However, much of that produce goes to waste because farmers often have limited access to markets, buyers, transport, and reliable pricing information. At the same time, farmers face challenges such as pest infestations, crop diseases, lack of fertilizers, soil problems, and unpredictable weather conditions. These issues make it difficult for them to consistently grow healthy produce for both household consumption and income. Harvest Link PNG was inspired by the need to support rural farmers with practical technology that improves food security, reduces waste, and helps farmers earn more from their hard work.

What It Does

Harvest Link PNG is an AI-powered platform designed specifically for rural farmers in Papua New Guinea. Farmers can take a photo of their crops or soil and receive instant AI-assisted diagnosis for crop diseases, pest problems, and soil-related issues. The app provides simple, clear advice on possible treatments, prevention steps, and next actions. The platform also includes a buyer and trading marketplace that connects farmers directly with urban buyers, markets, and businesses. Farmers can post available produce, compare market prices across PNG, and receive AI-powered sales advice on where and when to sell. Buyers can browse available produce and connect with farmers, while officers can monitor farmer activity, market listings, and support extension work.

How We Built It

We built Harvest Link PNG as a full-stack web application with separate functions for farmers, buyers, and agricultural officers. The frontend provides role-based dashboards, crop diagnosis tools, market listings, farmer profiles, and a market price tab. The backend handles authentication, farmer records, produce listings, market prices, AI crop diagnosis, and AI-powered sales advice. We integrated AI to help analyze crop and soil issues and to provide farmers with practical recommendations. We also designed the market price feature to support real PNG market data, with the ability to connect official or officer-uploaded price records in the future.

Challenges We Ran Into

One major challenge was designing a platform that works for different types of users while still keeping it simple for rural farmers. Farmers, buyers, and officers all need different tools, so we had to separate their workflows clearly. Another challenge was market price data. Reliable real-time agricultural price data across PNG is not always publicly available through a simple API, so we built the system to support current market records and future integration with official price sources. We also had to think carefully about accessibility, internet limitations, and making AI advice practical for smallholder farmers who may not have access to expensive chemicals, fertilizers, or expert support.

Accomplishments That We’re Proud Of

We are proud that Harvest Link PNG brings together crop health support, market access, price intelligence, and role-based tools in one platform. The app does more than diagnose problems; it also helps farmers turn their produce into income. We are also proud of the farmer-focused market price tab, which allows farmers to compare prices across PNG and receive AI-powered sales advice. This helps farmers make better decisions before transporting or selling their crops. Most importantly, we built a solution that is grounded in real problems faced by rural communities in Papua New Guinea.

What We Learned

We learned that technology for agriculture must be practical, local, and easy to use. AI can be powerful, but it must provide advice that matches the farmer’s real environment, resources, and market access. We also learned that market access is just as important as crop production. Helping farmers grow more is not enough if they cannot sell what they produce. A successful food security solution must connect farming, transport, buyers, prices, and extension support together.

What’s Next for Harvest Link PNG

Next, we want to integrate verified live market price data from more PNG markets and allow agricultural officers to update prices from the field. We also want to improve the AI crop diagnosis with more local crop disease data, Tok Pisin language support, and offline-friendly features for rural areas with limited internet access. Future plans include SMS alerts, weather warnings, transport coordination, buyer verification, farmer cooperatives, and partnerships with agricultural agencies, markets, and local governments. Our goal is to make Harvest Link PNG a trusted digital bridge between rural farmers and urban markets across Papua New Guinea.

Built With

  • advice
  • ai-powered
  • ai:
  • and-ai-powered-sales-advice-features:-role-based-dashboards-for-farmer
  • and-officer
  • api
  • api:
  • backend:
  • board
  • buyer
  • components
  • crop
  • crop-diagnosis
  • css
  • dashboards
  • database:
  • diagnosis
  • drizzle
  • express.js
  • farmer
  • farmer-registry
  • features:
  • for
  • frontend:
  • icons
  • lucide
  • lucide-react-icons-backend:-node.js
  • manager:
  • market
  • market-price-board
  • marketplace
  • monitoring
  • node.js
  • officer
  • openai
  • openapi/zod
  • orm
  • package
  • pest/disease
  • pest/disease-advice
  • pnpm
  • postgresql
  • price
  • produce
  • produce-marketplace
  • react
  • registry
  • rest
  • role-based
  • sales
  • shadcn/ui
  • shadcn/ui-components
  • tailwind
  • typescript
  • typescript-database:-postgresql-with-drizzle-orm-api:-rest-api-with-openapi/zod-validation-ai:-openai-api-for-crop-diagnosis
  • ui:
  • validation
  • vite
  • vite-ui:-tailwind-css
  • weather/market
  • with
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