FARMTRI: Cultivating AI for sustainable agriculture solutions

MANILA, Philippines — Just last June, this corner featured an European startup that uses a software-as-a-service application to minimize food waste – a data analytics platform that optimizes the supply chain as it matches fresh produce with traders in real time.

Consentio, a Barcelona–based company founded by French entrepreneurs in 2019, is relying on agri technology to address food wastage which, in Europe alone, costs a staggering $1 trillion a year in misspending or about 88 million tons, mostly fruits and vegetables, lost or wasted.

In the Philippines, a startup based in Cebu took it to a higher level, not only employing digital technology for trading but zeroing in on its roots – crop production.

Farmtri was among the six Philippine startups that participated in the recent South Summit Korea – the first Asian edition of the global platform for entrepreneurs and startup businesses. It was only among a handful of agri–based companies in the tech–heavy event that featured deep tech and artificial intelligence (AI).

Marini Fernandez, co–founder and CEO of Farmtri, told The STAR that by harnessing the capabilities of big data, deep tech and IoT (internet of things), farmers are able to boost their crop production and employ more efficient farming techniques – bringing up their income in the process.

“Our sensors can detect soil degradation and help increase food production by 600 percent per year. By helping farmers improve soil quality and crop production, we can secure food for future generations,” she said.

Farmtri uses advanced technology not only to revolutionize sustainable food production but it also leverages predictive tools to automate the logistics process – merchants pick up the fresh produce from the farmers and deliver it straight to the customers, eliminating food waste.

The Farmtri app, which is provided to farmers for free, is being used by some 384,000 farmers nationwide, Fernandez said, and has helped them grow their earnings from less than P50 a day to about P2,000 daily.