Blockchain helps businesses to profit from social progress
Asian farmers and voters ready to reap benefits of new technology Hara incentivizes farmers to provide certain data by making it redeemable for digital tokens that can later be exchanged for fertilizer and other necessities. (Courtesy of Hara Token) By JUSTINA LEE and ERI SUGIURA, Nikkei staff writers SINGAPORE/TOKYO -- After wiping the sweat off her brow and adjusting her straw hat, Liswati walks along one of her fields under Indonesia's hot tropical sun, eventually squatting down to inspect her crops. Instead of jotting down some notes with a pen and paper, she keys information about soil quality and other conditions into her smartphone. With very little effort, she has given thousands of others involved in Indonesian agriculture -- from government officials to nongovernmental organizations -- data that can be analyzed and possibly utilized to boost the country's farm output. The underlying technology? Block...