The emergence of blockchain technology has allowed many industries to advance in ways previously not possible, particularly in agriculture.

Spearheading the advancement of web3-backed farming solutions is Dimitra—an agriculture technology (AgTech) business that uses a number of different technologies to help farmers.

Dimitra’s web3 technologies help farmers increase crop outputs, reduce expenses and mitigate risks—with many successful applications already in operation.

Jon Trask, chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of Dimitra, spent his childhood summers on his grandfather’s farm and knows firsthand the value blockchain is providing the AgTech industry.

“Back then, it was more about earning income from the farm and there was certainly less consideration for the environment,” Trask said to me in a recent conversation. “We would pull the tractor route, we would plow and yet my grandfather was as pro environment as he could be. What he knew about the environment at that time was in line with modern practices, which weren’t the best way to do it.”

Working with blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI) and satellite-based Internet of Things (IoT) technology with team members in 70 countries, with active projects in 18 of those, Dimitra offers immutable certification for everyone along the supply chain—-from farm to fork—to ensure every shipment is regulatory-compliant.

After joining the blockchain space in 2017 one of the first projects Trask and his team built was an identity system in Africa. After that, he saw an opportunity in agriculture and the need for supporting farmers who don’t have access to technology or funding to help them make decisions.

Dimitra now has a team of 150 people building projects in areas such as livestock, agriculture, finance and deforestation—all arenas addressing the needs of farmers that are difficult or impossible to address without blockchain, Trask said.

“Every farmer selling produce is looking to get the best price for their produce,” he said. “To get the best price in today’s world, you have to have track-and-trace to show how it’s been treated through the supply chain.”

For example, a coffee farmer who wants a premium price from a European or North American client needs track-and-trace data or they’re going to get paid a third of what they could earn if they had the information, he said.

“After you have the blockchain track-and-trace component, the next element we’re dealing with is financing,” Trask said. “We’re releasing a nonfungible token (NFT) series where an individual will be able to buy a stake in an avocado tree. For $50, you can buy part-ownership of an avocado tree.”

According to Trask, staking the avocado trees helps farmers get seeds stocked, buy fertilizer and provides some security because avocados are stolen in Africa due to their high value. As the tree matures, the investor shares in the rewards. 

“Getting a loan for a farmer buying an avocado tree is very difficult because an avocado tree doesn’t mature for several years,” he said. “It’s tough for farmers to pay premiums on a loan, and most farmers we’re working with do not have established credit—so we’ve built a crop tool which helps us analyze their farming performance.” While a bank may be unwilling to give loans to avocado farmers, Dimitra is hoping NFT investors will have enough capital to be able to wait a few years to see a return on their investment, and even better, they’d be someone who is passionate about the philanthropic AgTech space and is along for the journey.

“In year two, an avocado tree might produce one avocado, but in year 10 it might produce 300 to 400 kilos of avocados,” Trask said. “At today’s export prices, if we can get farmers a premium price point from tracking and tracing it properly, we can get them three-times the money they would make from their domestic market.”

Dimitra is releasing NFTs for the first 10,000 trees starting this fall, Trask said. The goal is to continue building off the success of avocados and then expand into a similar program for mangos, cocoa and other crops, Trask said.

Farming performance is only one element of credit, but if farmers are tracking their data through Dimitra’s application, they can give them recommendations on what they need to do to farm better. The company can run satellite reports that look at crop health and tree health and has disease models that help farmers assess potential diseases in their trees and how to deal with pests.

“Earlier this year, we launched a large-scale project in Papua New Guinea on corn that used drones to precision-spray fall armyworms,” Trask said. “All of those models run through the Dimitra ecosystem.”

According to Trask, one of the biggest market ecosystems for African and Asian farmers is Europe, which passed new deforestation regulation, set to go into effect next year, something the company can monitor given their forestry and satellite experience.

“We built one of the first apps that allows us to assess if someone has deforested their farms and violated the new EU Deforestation-free Regulation (EUDR) rules,” Trask said. “We can then certify if they are deforestation-free, or, what their risks are and can provide that information to the corporations doing the importing and the EU governments.”

Blockchain is helping countries verify and better track their exports, allowing farmers and governments to have an enhanced understanding of their adherence to upcoming regulations— advancements that may not have been possible without web3 tech, Trask said.