PlantVillage+ is a company that has spun out of Penn State University and is part owned by Penn State
We are helping smallholder
farmers adapt to climate change
We are leveraging smallholder
farms to mitigate climate change
Our mission is to help farmers in the global south make money and save time with AI that delivers the best solutions to defend their farm against climate change, pests and market shocks. That is our promise to them.
And our promise to the global north is the creation of a vast network of AI-Powered Carbon Capture Cubes drawing down and permanently locking >1 gigatonne/year of carbon away as biochar in farmer fields.
Trusted, transparent tracking of carbon sequestration
PlantVillage+ software helps companies like Biochar Life, Carboneers, Carbon4Good and many more track the sequestering of carbon via biochar under the Carbon Standards International (CSI) certification program. Biochar is permanent carbon removal (as inertinite) with enormous co-benefits.
PlantVillage won the Carbon XPRIZE for MRV (Measurement, Reporting and Verification) and is now creating a digital MRV to be used by CSI. If we are to capture and store 1 billion tonnes of carbon/year then software and AI are vital tools. True to our roots at a US Land Grant University, all our AI and algorithms will be available to independent scientists at public institutes to validate.
An AI defense shield for the farm
The shield in our name is there to remind us of our singular focus to protect farms against climate change and other stressors. Via AI we bring effective defenses to farms to help them make money and save time. Defense against climate change (droughts and floods). Defense against pests, diseases and weeds of crops that act as a tax on production. Defense against the whims of the markets causing prices at the farm gate to plummet. And all three at once which is becoming the norm.
There are so many proven technologies like parasitoid wasps to control pests, clean seeds resistant to diseases, and irrigation (from biochar that holds water in the root zone to irrigation as a service informed by AI). We deliver this and more to protect farms. Backed by a world class intelligent AI system that will get better and better over time via engagement with the public sector.
Algorithms & AI free forever
PlantVillage at Penn State University is a global public good. We are spinning out PlantVillage+ to scale up impact for farmers. But crucial to this is the continued engagement with the global community of public scientists.
Under climate change, everything is new so a private company should not be developing human level diagnostics (for crop diseases for example) that public scientists cannot access and validate. We will not monetize our algorithms and AI. They will be free foreever.
Public funds to private outcomes
PlantVillage has received over $37m in public money from donors like USAID, UN FAO, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Hopper-Dean Foundation, Google.org Foundation and many more.
All our donors want to see us be sustainable. We see this public money as a catalyst to bring solutions for farmers to scale. And open up new revenue streams for farmers such as the carbon markets like Carbon for Good.