GeoFarm

Research studies indicate that over 60% Indian farmers agree that alterations in temperature and precipitation reduce their overall production and revenue. While farmer suicide is a complex matter, several studies also observe a coincidence between the rising number of farmers that take their lives and extreme weather events that affect crops. Climate change has undoubtedly created challenges that result in instability in their livelihood. The change in seasons and the inability to predict these changes and adapt due to the lack of resources and guidance results in severe difficulties for a farmer grappling with mounting debt. 

While approximately 32% of India’s rural population is illiterate, the percentage is expected to be even higher in farmers. In order to adapt to climate change, there is a strong need for awareness and education for farmers with a low income-low education background. In addition to the lack of knowledge in choosing climate resilient crops, there is also limited knowledge and awareness in India around the concept of polyculture techniques in farming. Polyculture farming involves growing multiple crop species in the same piece of land which promotes crop diversity thereby resulting in increased resilience to extreme weather, improved soil health, microclimate stabilization and economic stability due to the varied performance of different crop types. 

The solution we propose aims to tackle these adaptation challenges that are undoubtedly expected to worsen over the coming years for a country with a growing population which will create an increased reliance on food security. Trends in some of the most critical factors for crop production such as heat stress, and precipitation patterns have already been projected to result in extreme weather events in the next 20 years, pointing to an urgent call for action. Applying insights from climate modeling paired with a crop selection and sowing plan can help adapt, maximize and optimize land area as well as crop yield.

GeoFarm is a tool that utilizes global climate model data as well as geospatial climate and agricultural data obtained from open data portals to force a predictive climate analysis model for grids across India. Key climate parameters are projected using shared socioeconomic pathway (SSP) scenarios to analyze variations in weather patterns in the next 5,10, 25 and 50 years. The predictive analysis is then translated into data visualizations in the form of maps, specifically - precipitation map, heat stress map, in order to better understand and classify threats for a chosen location or region. These maps then help inform design decisions around crop combinations, crop vulnerability and planting patterns. These design decisions lead us to a polyculture and permaculture approach to farming which involves identifying a combination of climate resilient crops by matching crop maturity time with the growing season, choosing crops with natural tolerance to certain weather patterns, tracking crop performance and yields.

The user can visualize climate and agriculture data insights for the chosen site such as an interactive map that highlights a hazard affecting the location. Additionally, the user can visualize agricultural data for their site such as crop planting schedules that can help them make informed decisions. Using this data, we predict key climate parameters—such as heat, precipitation, and potential hazards—for specific farm locations over the next 5, 10,  20 years. 

Upon understanding these forecasts, our app transitions into its next critical phase, which is the solution phase: crop and cultivation planning. We utilize an extensive database of resilient crop types and employ polyculture techniques to not only suggest the best crops for the predicted conditions but also outline a detailed planting plan. This approach not only enhances crop yield and diversity but also naturally mitigates the risks associated with monoculture farming. This approach also optimizes farm water usage and reduces crop vulnerability to climate variability. 

We also provide a permaculture site strategy that can help farmers design a permaculture farming solution for their site based on climate data. We want to be cognizant of our consumption as a society and hence be mindful of the resources that we use, such as water, natural pesticides, our soil and labor.

GeoFarm serves as an essential tool for policy advisors who need reliable data to draft informed agricultural policies, farmers who seek to secure their future in an unpredictable climate, and supply chain managers who depend on consistent and sustainable crop production. Together, we can transform these insights into actionable strategies that ensure long-term sustainability and profitability.

Climate smart agriculture is a practice through which farmers can become more resilient to variability using big data. GeoFarm leverages advanced climate model forecasts to offer farmers personalized recommendations by allowing the user to choose from a list of projects on the app.

This will help Indian farmers adapt to climate variability, increase their production, optimize their water usage, improve soil conditions and increase their profits while saving the environment.

Growing up in India has given us a firsthand understanding of the challenges around seasonal variability, crop losses, and farmer suicides that have created a major impact on our outlook for the future. Our interactions with farmers in our families have also enabled us to closely understand the gaps and short comes in tackling climate challenges. Professionally, having a background in sustainable green tech, urban planning, landscape design, climate modeling and geospatial data analytics, we have the necessary skills to develop this adaptation solution. Our skills combined with our access to end users also helps us verify the applicability of our solutions.

Access to expert guidance available through our university and professional network serves as an added advantage. We also have a wide network of Product Manager professionals that guide us through this process. The expertise in data analysis, design and product management give us a technical edge while our network of experts and users keep us in check and make us suitable to work on this platform. In the future, we will be employing our connections to address farmers in Maharashtra that are applying polyculture multilayer farming techniques, as a pilot user group. Hence, it’s an apt approach to build on it through climate and crop data.

We selected the prototype stage as we have a functional prototype that can help users, but we are still in the process of collecting more data, building an MVP (Minimum Viable Product), a product roadmap strategy, a product market fit and a marketing strategy for the product in order for this to succeed. Our user research led us to identifying the gap in climate adaptation solutions in farming in the Indian context. Conversations with farmers in India highlighted the increase in crop losses and uncertainty in seasonal variations. However, we also identified a couple of farmers that employed polyculture farming based on simple rainfall trends and observational data in Maharashtra, India who have observed more resilient crop behavior leading to greater economic stability. 

This has led us to our prototype stage, wherein we have employed more robust climate forecasts combined with the knowledge of polyculture and permaculture planting plans to deliver a product solution.

Solve is a great platform for us to not only explore resources but also get access to a good network of professionals who all have a similar core mission for their organization. We believe that social good can be done with monetary return as part of being a conscious leader in today’s world. Solve’s global climate challenge also gives us an opportunity to expand and grow our business aimed towards Indian farming practices and climate change. We also love to get some help in raising funds for this climate impact and socio-economic strategy to grow our business.

There is no platform currently in the market that links innovative sustainable agriculture practices such as polyculture and permaculture farming with geospatial climate model data for farming in the Indian context. Our aim is to also build networks through our platforms and connect with similar organizations to grow the platform further helping the farming practices become resilient. Unlike other agricultural advice platforms, GeoFarm provides adaptation solutions that are finely tuned to local conditions and specific forecasted changes in climate. We aim to help boost agro-based tourism, reduce chemical usage in farming for healthy food consumption, optimize water usage and help farmers grow their businesses in a healthy sustainable manner.

We are living in the climate crisis right now. Our goal is to make Indian farmers more adaptable to climate variability with growing concerns of climate change and its adverse effects on farming in India. The current problem involves a knowledge gap associated with uncertainties in climate variability leading to economic instability. By allowing policy makers, farmers, industry experts and supply chain managers to leverage climate and crop data, we will pave the way for both economic stability and climate adaptation  - a) By diversifying the farmer’s crop options through polyculture and permaculture multilayer farming methods and b) By developing a deeper understanding of the weather patterns and seasonality. 

We are catering to the following UN SDGS: Goal 3 - Good Health and Well Being; Goal 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities; Goal 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production; and Goal 13 - Climate Action. Our aim is to reduce chemicals and waste in farming, reduce usage of chemical pesticides by promoting healthier natural pesticides, hence boosting and promoting the health and wellbeing of our population. We want to be cognizant of our consumption as a society and hence be mindful of the resources that we use, such as water, natural pesticides, our soil and labor. Through this process we also want to boost agro-based tourism which will further help educate farmers and other stakeholders within the industry for this process. Our process also involves further reducing and quantifying carbon emissions that the practice releases. That will help our economy grow in a sustainable way. Through this approach we want city planners and policy makers to get aid in forming climate action plans for the agricultural sectors in a city.

We have used GIS (Geospatial Information System) and Global Climate Model for predictive climate data analysis to form Permaculture and Polyculture agriculture options for our solution. Key climate parameters are projected using shared socioeconomic pathway (SSP) scenarios to analyze variations in weather patterns in the next 5,10, 25 and 50 years. Our product will be a digital software platform which will be a PaaS (product as a service) B2B model.

We are a team of two people currently, hoping to expand more. Dhruv Vairagi is an urban designer and planner in Austin, USA and Aditi Ilanthodi is a sustainability specialist, in Houston, USA. Our team has a background in geospatial data analysis, climate modeling, agro-based landscape design and planning thereby uniquely positioning us to interpret climate data and transform it into user-friendly, actionable advice for the agricultural sector.

We have been working on this solution for about 1 year now. We have been working with industry professionals and the University of Texas at Austin on different projects that helped us build towards this approach.

Our Team is very cognizant of good team building and employee relationships. As we grow, we will ensure that our team is diverse, in terms of who we choose, not based on their race, sexuality, country, age, gender or gender identity but rather on their skill, backgrounds and expertise. We have a very welcoming approach to our working process as we always want to hear every opinion that can help us build and achieve an impactful product market fit.

We aim to provide climate-smart agricultural consultancy as a business. Our business model is Subscription based, PaaS (Product as a Service) which is a B2B (Business to Business) model helping leverage climate and agriculture data along with design guidelines to help policy makers, supply chain managers, farmers and organizations help evolve Climate Smart Agriculture.

We have an integrated social business model where our business activities overlap with the social programs that cities have. The business model is also a service subsidization model which focuses on climate and agricultural consultancy. Our plan is to focus on developing an MVP (Minimum Viable product) to achieve a viable product market fit. After that, we plan to launch the product and grow the product, making the product a standard in agro-based climate solutions. Our aim is to make this model a subscription based automated data and design tool where-in we can get our industry specific expertise with monetary requirements. We have seen from various tools that planners, designers and data analyst professionals, that companies will benefit widely from this tool and that they will use it for various other projects as well.