What the Earthshot Prize tells us about the increasing importance of agtech
India-based Boomitra uses satellite and AI technology to enable monitoring, reporting, and verification of carbon removal credits across the globe.
Via AI and remote sensing technology, it aims to empower farmers and ranchers to transform their agricultural practices, whilst earning new streams of incomes. Boomitra‘s technology is designed to help farmers adopt agricultural practices that increase carbon sequestration. The company then quantifies the additional carbon captured and works with international standards bodies to generate Verified Emission Removals (VERs), commonly referred to as carbon credits. Boomitra then sells the carbon credits to corporations and governments worldwide, enabling them to meet their sustainability goals. The majority of the proceeds from each carbon credit sold is then given back to the farmers, allowing them to re-invest in themselves and their communities, and giving them crucial financial incentive to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices.
Boomitra is working with over 150,000 farmers and ranchers managing five million acres of land across Africa, South America, and Asia. The company works with landowners of all sizes to make carbon finance accessible, from 0.5-acre smallholder farms to large ranches.
‘This award will help us accelerate our growth and scale to new markets’
The company’s innovative solution to help farmers increase their soil carbon and yields has now been recognised by the Earthshot Prize. Founded by Prince William in 2020, the Earthshot Prize aims to discover and help scale the world’s most innovative climate and environmental solutions to protect and restore our planet.
The award – named after President John F. Kennedy's 1962 'moonshot' speech, which challenged Americans to reach the moon by the end of that decade – will give a £1 million to 15 companies until 2030 to scale up their projects to protect the planet in five key areas: Restore Nature, Clean Air, Revive Oceans, Waste-free World and Fix the Climate.
Price William revealed the latest five winners of his Earthshot Prize at an award ceremony in Singapore yesterday (9 November) attended by celebrities, actors, singers and leading politicians.
Boomitra, which means ‘friend of the earth’ in Sanskrit, was chosen as one of three finalists in the Fix Our Climate category from a pool of more than 1,300 nominees.
“This award will help us accelerate our growth and scale to new markets,” Boomitra CEO & Founder Aadith Moorthy told AgTechNavigator. “Our goal is to make our technology and model available to every farmer and rancher around the world so they can improve their soil and increase their income by participating in the carbon credit market. Climate change is a giga-scale problem. We can’t solve a gigaton problem with megaton solutions. With the generous support and resources provided by The Earthshot Prize, we hope to scale our solution a hundredfold, enabling us to operate at the gigaton-scale required to significantly combat climate change. We aim to make carbon finance accessible to all farmers and ranchers, from half-acre smallholder farms to large ranches, particularly in the Global South.
“This award propels us towards a regenerative future. Our goal? A gigaton of CO2 sequestered in the soil by 2030. We believe we can really move the needle on climate change.”
He added the prize is a validation of the significant role agtech can play in addressing climate change. “One of the biggest challenges in agtech is scaling solutions and making them affordable to small and resource-constrained farmers and ranchers,” he explained. “What we’re most excited about is that Boomitra’s solution can work for landowners of all sizes to make carbon finance accessible. Our technological solution empowers farmers with the data they need to improve soil and maximize their crop yields, while creating a valuable store for carbon. As an Earthshot Prize Winner we can expand our scope and support thousands more farmers, particularly in the Global South.”
Price William told the award ceremony: "The last year has been one of great change and even greater challenge. A year in which the effects of the climate crisis have become too visible to be ignored. And a year that has left so many feeling defeated, their hope dwindling.
"However, as we have seen tonight, hope does remain. The light of optimism is burning bright in our Earthshot finalists.
"It is my belief that we will find the courage to do so. We will find the courage because we will hold onto the most powerful motivators of all - optimism and hope."
