Sitting in a field in the heart of Uzbekistan’s Fergana Valley, Shaodatkhon Oripova’s greenhouse isn’t just the simple structure it used to be. It’s now alive with digital sensors connected to the internet, through which the 62-year-old farmer can control the temperature, humidity, light and soil moisture.

“In the past,” she said, “a lot of my earnings would disappear into paying for utility bills and buying fertilizers,” says the mother of three, whose farm produces herbs, tomatoes, lemons, corn and clover.

Now, Shaodatkhon can better regulate these inputs through the sensors. If anything needs to be adjusted in the greenhouse, her mobile phone buzzes to alert her.

These sensors were particularly useful over the summer when extreme heat and lack of water impacted production from her greenhouse. While other farmers sustained great losses, she was able to maintain her production at close to last year’s levels.

Shaodatkhon has been used to the hard work and highs and lows of farming. “I was born into a family of farmers, and I have been a farmer my whole life, but it has not been easy,” she said.

It is a different type of farming now. Shaodatkhon describes how every day is a new learning experience with digital technology. She can now free up more time for other things such as marketing her produce, spending time with her family and improving her education and quality of life.