SEED is a Certified B-Corp. We are using business as a force for good in the world, through our commitment to community and workers, the circular economy and right to repair, and a cross-subsidy sales model and access to technology. Creating environmental, social and economic change is in our DNA. This certification acknowledges and confirms it. See our score and learn more here.

We’re democratizing agtech by creating tools for small growers to remediate contaminated soils and participate in the carbon credit marketplace. Our Radicle™ soil carbon sensor is portable, automated and inexpensive. 

Why make a handheld soil carbon sensor?

Because equity and fairness demand it. The world’s underserved growers are not widely participating in the emerging carbon credit marketplace or digital technology — up to 97% lack high-quality, real-time and spatially accurate data — but a large number of commercial growers are. Existing tools for soil carbon testing are expensive and complicated, which presents barriers to entry for low-resource and remote communities. They also lack a pathway to rewards for the very same traditional and Indigenous practices praised as “regenerative” that commercial growers are paid to practice. Our tool overcomes these obstacles and eliminates this digital poverty trap. Data is power.

Carbon credits and why they matter

A carbon credit is a tradable unit equal to one ton of greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Individuals, corporations and other entities issue, buy and sell these carbon credits on the voluntary carbon market, to finance efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Credits in this market are created by the activities of projects that are certified by standards. Then, the credits are purchased by companies, individuals, and other entities to offset their own GHG emissions. 

Credits generated by projects in underserved regions are often capitalized on by outside corporate entities. An affordable soil carbon sensor creates the opportunity to bring economic benefits directly to the residents of these developing communities. Importantly, that’s where true impact can be realized because benefits go to resident caretakers of the land — not outsiders. 

There are 500 million smallhold farmers worldwide, who average just 3.7 acres each. By some estimates, these farms produce over 70% of the world’s food and 80% of the food for people in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. These smallholders include 72,000 underserved American farmers. As stewards of the soil, they are all key to feeding 10 billion people by 2050 and increasing carbon sequestration that reduces GHGs.

Improving the soil is imperative

There are no carbon credits without healthy soil.  Carbon monitoring first and foremost helps growers create conditions for increased production.  This is why we have created a tool that provides remediation solutions for soils contaminated by petroleum, heavy metals and excess nitrogen. Ultimately, healthy soil emits fewer GHGs into the atmosphere. 

Home gardeners are important too

Agriculture contributes almost 24% to greenhouse gases, but every grower can reduce this impact. By using SEED technology, the 63 million home gardeners, in the U.S. alone, could join smallholders and underserved farmers in becoming more productive per unit of area than large commercial farms. Individual home gardeners and urban farmers work 296,143 acres (equal to nearly 30,000 small plot farms), and with use of our carbon sensor, these growers could sequester an additional 11 million metric tons of carbon. The climate mitigation potential of this “carbon gardening” is considerable, not to mention the income potential of carbon crediting.

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SEED develops technology in line with both UN and World Bank priorities to invest in irrigation and address climate-smart agriculture. Access to agricultural tools decreases time in the field and creates education and employment opportunities for women and girls worldwide. Simple tech systems also provide workforce jobs for traditionally hard-to-employ groups such as veterans, the previously incarcerated and minority entrepreneurs. The Radicle™ soil carbon sensor meets United Nations Sustainable Development Goals related to reducing hunger, taking climate action, reducing water waste and promoting sustainable land use.

Low-cost precision irrigation was only the beginning

SEED developed a precision irrigation system that produced positive results for small plot farmers, all of whom increased their yields while saving a lot of water. Properly irrigated soils not only grow more produce, prevent runoff and impede erosion but they increase the soil’s ability to store carbon. When paired with good agricultural management practices like carbon farming, that capacity goes up even more.