Startups for Sustainable Development

"Conventional farming has depleted soil carbon levels by up to 75%, and half the world’s agricultural land is degraded." 

Boomitra is transforming the future of soil carbon by empowering farmers and ranchers across the Global South to switch to regenerative agriculture. We spoke with founder and CEO Aadith Moorthy to learn more about Boomitra's mission, and why they believe that recarbonizing soils at scale is an essential component of climate action.

Conventional farming has depleted soil carbon levels by up to 75%, and half the world's agricultural land is degraded. But if earth's agricultural soils were restored, they could remove an additional 3-5 gigatons of carbon each year from the atmosphere, 10% of global carbon emissions.

Our mission is to unlock this recarbonization potential at a gigaton scale through science-backed technology, while advancing climate justice for marginalized and vulnerable farmers in the Global South. Together with our partners, we're empowering farmers & ranchers to create a planet that thrives.

Six years ago, while traveling through a small village in India, I witnessed a funeral procession for a farmer who tragically took his own life, driven to despair by the relentless cycle of failed monsoon rains and poor crop yields. This heartbreaking scene reflected the harsh reality that smallholder farmers across the world face. Their livelihoods hang in the balance of unpredictable weather patterns and environmental degradation—and this is only worsening as climate change advances. Considering the dual problems of mitigating and adapting to climate change, I resolved to seek out a solution.

At the time, I was a student at the California Institute of Technology, and had developed a background in materials science, computer science, and artificial intelligence. This expertise perfectly positioned me to find a way to use satellites and AI to gather soil metrics across the world, so that farmers can better understand their land and participate in the global carbon market.

So, this pivotal moment in India ignited the inception of Boomitra, which removes carbon from the atmosphere while helping farmers become climate resilient.  

Before us, large-scale soil carbon projects in the Global South weren't really possible. Traditional methods of measuring soil carbon, such as soil sampling and laboratory analysis, are labor-intensive and expensive. Smallholder farmers wouldn't be able to sustain these kinds of costs. Boomitra has leveraged the power of technology so that smallholder farmers across the Global South, which accounts for 78% of the world's croplands, can participate in the carbon markets that heretofore were inaccessible.

Our AI-driven carbon measurement and verification approach eliminates the need for extensive soil sampling for accurate carbon measurement. Using satellite data, we can measure absolute changes in soil organic carbon stocks and other essential metrics on farms ranging from 0.5 to 100,000 acres, like nutrient levels and soil moisture.

Our tech has reduced measurement costs by 90%, so that soil carbon can be a truly global solution with complete transparency.   

With 100 local implementation partners across the world, Boomitra has removed 10 million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere by helping farmers and ranchers switch from conventional to regenerative agriculture, the equivalent of taking more than 2 million cars off the road for a year.

We've restored 5 million acres of land since our inception. Farmers and ranchers report complete transformations of their lands after switching to regenerative practices: 17 species of grass where there was just one; red flowers blooming in formerly desertified land; doubled wheat yields; birdsong where once there was just silence.

By 2030, we aim to remove a gigaton of carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the world’s soils. 

In 2023, Boomitra was named an Earthshot Prize winner in the “Fix Our Climate” category. This accolade has accelerated our growth through additional resources and mentorship. It also opened the door to joining this program, and we were eager to join a community of startups in the climate space.

This community has been like our farmer-first model. In the same way that Boomitra supports farmers and ranchers through their transition from conventional to regenerative agriculture, this program has helped us transition from a startup to an industry leader. We have gained international brand awareness, entered agreements with multinational corporations, and achieved operational efficiency.

It would not have been possible without the tangible passion Google has for sustainability, or our dedicated mentors who have readily and kindly answered every call, and willingly shared their industry know-how.

As Boomitra moves forward on our global-scale climate solution, we know that our successes stand as a testament to the SfSD program's effectiveness in empowering sustainable startups to achieve lasting impact.   

By 2025, we aim to distribute $200 million in carbon finance to tens of thousands of marginalized farmers. This additional source of income rewards agriculturists for stewarding land and climate—and allows them to reinvest in their communities.

Restoring soils is an absolutely necessary component in the world's suite of climate change solutions. Boomitra is combatting climate change, while restoring biodiversity, increasing resiliency, empowering the Global South, improving water resources, and more. In the coming year, we'll continue to develop our carbon projects across 13 countries, supporting more than 150,000 farmers and ranchers.   

Thank you Aadith and Boomitra for sharing with us their incredible vision and their experiences participating in the Startups for Sustainable Development program.

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"Boomitra has leveraged the power of technology so that smallholder farmers across the Global South, which accounts for 78% of the world’s croplands, can participate in the carbon markets that heretofore were inaccessible."