Objective: to help farmers management crops minimize costs by calculating different types of input (fertilizer, water, seeds, etc.) according to the size of their lands
What we want to build: Farm 2.0
An app with a clean and easy user interface that can be optimized for low cellular data areas. It will have the below functions:
- Farm size calculator, producing area based on perimeter input
- Data sources on a variety of different crops that are farmed in Thailand, allowing farmers to select one to find out more about that specific crop
- An input (fertilizer, water, seeds, etc.) calculator for each type of crop and/or plot based on the crop type selected and the farm size
- Tools to help farmers plan scheduling and crop management
- Reminders to indicate the frequency in which farmers should water their crops
- Tools that help increase financial literacy with money management to deal with farm usage - PROJECT THE CASH FLOWS, when the cash is coming in and whether it will be sufficient to pay for their expenses (three payments: fixed overhead - SG&A, interest expense, leftover cash = free cash flows, manage their cash flows)
- Reminders about interest payments on loans
- A weekly calculation of the savings that need to be made to pay off the loan within the stated time period
- Thailand a country of farmers: low-cost sensor technology to smallholder agriculture
- Useful information based on more precise data combined with a service that supports better decision-making to guide farmers to achieve optimal production outcomes
Outcome: To enable farmers to have a higher yield and better cash flow management About: In emerging markets, farmers need financing: at end of season to buy new inputs, during school year to pay school fees, bridging after a poor harvest, to cover capital expense of moving towards increased production - difficult to find this financing, because farmers are traditionally high-risk borrowers.
We aim to lower that risk. We know there are a series of data for individual crops that describe what an optimal output could look like - how we react to weather, how much we irrigate, how much fertilizer to apply → too much water? suboptimal plant health, increased spend on fertilizer, reduced overall income - reduced ability to repay a loan and increased likelihood that they will need insurance payout
We aim to achieve this with three key things: visualization, information and financial literacy.
- Visualization: farm size calculator, input calculator for each type of crop based on crop type selected and farm size
- Information: weather, and markets - because what matters, supply; because what matters for demand: markets
- Financial literacy: cash flow projection: reminders about interest payments on loans, weekly calculation of savings need to be made to pay off the loan within the stated time period
We have the ability to partner with local creditors and provide incentives for farmers using this app since it reduces creditors' risk. We also can partner with certain fertilizer and farm product corporations for very targeted advertisement/promotion strategies. Total funding raised to date is $3,000.
Check it out, and fork it to help us make improvements!