Chilean Startup Instacrops Uses AI to Slash Farm Water Use

[bonk]

Agriculture consumes 70% of the world’s freshwater, and in some countries like India and Chile that figure tops 90%. Mario Bustamante, founder of Chilean startup Instacrops, wants to change that.

Instacrops began with IoT sensors to warn farmers about frost, but pivoted to AI-powered water management as hardware became commoditized. Today the platform helps 260 farms cut water use by up to 30% and boost crop yields by up to 20%.

Processing 15 million data points per hour, Instacrops’ LLM models analyze 80+ parameters — from soil moisture to NDVI satellite metrics — to advise farmers on irrigation. The company is part of TechCrunch Startup Battlefield and will present at TechCrunch Disrupt later this month in San Francisco.

[Nahid10]

That’s a fantastic innovation. AI helping agriculture become more sustainable is a win for everyone.

[kelson10]

Impressive work by Instacrops. Reducing water waste through AI could change farming globally.