Who is Agritech, and why should every foodie be invested?
Agritech is combining agriculture and blockchain technology to help farmers and consumers globally
Imagine walking into your neighborhood market and noticing that a nearby farm now has their eggs available for in-store purchase. You see a QR Code on the carton that reads “Learn More About Our Farm”. Well obviously we would want to know more about where our food is coming from, right? Scanning the QR Code directs you to the Agritech platform, where you discover an entire peer-to-peer world for farmers and consumers! You’re now able to read about the history of the lovely farm you just supported, and all the happy, free-range hens whose eggs you’re about to enjoy. You learn about the farmer, his family, his animals, and his passion for agriculture. You can even shop directly on Agritech’s platform for more farm fresh eggs, where the farmer can either have them delivered straight to your house, or maybe he will meet you at the next Farmer’s Market for pick up. Best of all, you can have full traceability of where your groceries are coming from! Agritech’s whole mission is to grant you the transparency of your food’s origin; from seed, to soil, to harvest, to table. This is the future of food sustainability and security. This is the future with Agritech!
Who is Agritech?
Well in short, Agritech is the next big thing in global food security. They are combining the new world of AI technology with agriculture to give consumers full transparency on where their food is coming from!
According to their website, “Agritech combines Traceability Technology, Blockchain, Agriculture Artificial Intelligence (AAI) and Decentralized Finance (DEFI). The deployment of AGRITECH ensures a sustainable and scalable smart farming model where there is consistency, efficiency and quality.”
Now, let’s pretend for a second that maybe you have NO idea what any of that means. You’re probably more familiar with the “agri”, and not so much the “tech”. Well, you’re not alone! It can be quite the mouthful for someone who has no idea how or why a company like this will impact the future of food globally! In order to fully grasp how a company like Agritech is changing the world, you first need to understand exactly what it is this company is doing, and why they’re doing it.
Let’s start by breaking down what it is exactly that Agritech is bringing to the table:
- Traceability Technology: This is what gives Agritech the ability to provide full transparency of where all fruit, vegetables, livestock, and other consumable goods are coming from. As a consumer, you’ll be able to trace down to the very seed and harvest, and know that what you’re consuming is accurately labeled and certified. The technology gives you the confidence that your food was well taken care of, properly handled, and sustainable!
- Blockchain: Blockchain technology will revolutionize agriculture by improving transparency and traceability in the supply chain! It helps farmers track the origin and journey of their products, enable consumers to verify the authenticity of food products, and facilitate the efficient transfer of payments between parties. Additionally, blockchain can help reduce food fraud and increase food safety by making it easier to identify and address issues in the supply chain. It’s basically the most thorough quality check you could ask for with any consumable product!
- Agriculture Artificial Intelligence: Now regardless of how you feel about artificial intelligence, you have to admit that having it to the in-between work for you as a producer or consumer is kind of nice! Agricultural Artificial Intelligence (AAI) is the application of AI technologies, such as machine learning and computer vision, to improve and optimize various aspects of agriculture. This goes all the way down to crop management, soil analysis, weather forecasting, and animal health monitoring, among others. The goal is to increase productivity, reduce waste, and make agriculture more sustainable.
- Decentralized Finance: This is a financial system built on blockchain technology that is not controlled by any centralized authority. DeFi has been gaining popularity in recent years due to its potential to provide greater financial inclusivity and transparency. So basically, everything stored by farmers, processors, transportation, retail stores, and consumers is saved on blockchain. Since all the data saved becomes unalterable, it ensures that all certified Agritech products are above reproach!
Now that we got the basics out the way, let’s dive a little deeper into how Agritech got started!
Agritech was originally founded to provide security and traceability globally for cannabis products. They currently partner with companies such as Canna-Well and Rakkun to provide clear transparency for medicinal and recreational cannabis using blockchain technology. This means they are giving consumers the FULL run-down on where their products are coming from, who their products are coming from, and details on the actual product itself. (We’re talking all the way down the very seed and mother plant!)
So, why agriculture?
During the Covid pandemic, many large grocery stores started to rapidly run out of goods they usually had an abundance of. Remember how hard it was to find milk, rice, and eggs? Even flour was cleared off the shelves! Robert Ramos, Agritech’s founder and CEO, noticed a very clear issue that the average person may not have know even existed; we have a global food security problem.
Think of it this way while we revisit the egg scenario from earlier: Maybe you walk into your grocery store every week and buy eggs. Then a global crisis unexpectedly happens. Now all imports and exports are halted, no trucks crossing over state lines, no cargo ships or planes, nothing. This is exactly what happened with Covid. Now the eggs you would get every week are becoming less and less accessible since they’re imported from a completely different state. Maybe the few eggs that are left are sky-rocketing in price because of supply and demand. In a perfect world this wouldn’t happen, but we live in an imperfect one, and you’d be able to avoid this problem all together with Agritech. This is because Agritech provides you with the resource needed to find and purchase from local farmers!
Okay! So, how exactly does this help the community?
Robert strongly believes that as consumers, we should have more interest in where our goods are coming from. We should want to do business with the farmers who put blood, sweat and tears into the very thing we all need in order to survive; food! Beyond that, this puts those farmers in the position to make a living to support their families. Since they now have a platform to market themselves and their goods, they can have a more streamlined outreach of consumers nearby who want to support them. By purchasing locally sourced good instead of imported goods (like eggs), you help eliminate the amount of exports needed, giving smaller farmers in your area a chance to become more prosperous! Providing a peer to peer connection between farmers and consumers is what will help the local community become self sustainable.
What’s next for Agritech, and how can you support?
Coming mid-May, Agritech will be launching it’s peer-to-peer website, with an app soon to follow! You can support by following their Twitter page at @AgritechAI, and learn more about them at www.agri-tech.io. Additionally, have many grow facilities located in Thailand for micro-farming exports, you can learn about their progress on their laboratory Twitter page at @AgritechLabs. They also have a YouTube Channel you can follow and see how the company is progressing!
You call also find Rakkun and Canna-Well on Instagram to learn more about their partnership with Agritech, and how their Wellness Resorts are taking Thailand by storm!
To learn more about Rakkun and the Canna-Well Wellness Resorts, click here!