86.5% of Indian Farmers are small and marginal, with less than 1 hectare of land, making up 51.8% of total farmers. Their average annual income is just Rs. 45,000 as of December 2023, leaving 12.55 Crore farmers in severe poverty. This is a distressing reality after 75 years of independence.

It is not common knowledge that Lightning kills more people in India compared to any other natural calamity. More disturbingly, majority of lightning deaths are of poor farmers who are the most vulnerable exposed to lightning in open fields with highly conductive tools on their hands.

At Hydenmet, we are building a platform with the objective of alleviating the pains of small and marginal farmers through:

• Crop failure risk mitigation
• Saving their lives from lightning
• Providing affordable precision farming that aims to reduce cost of cultivation, reduce toxicity in soil & crops, improve yield and get the best price for what they grow.

We are setting the stage for changing the lives of small and marginal farmers. Yes, through STAGE – Smart Tech-based AGri Enabler. STAGE will empower small and marginal farmers with:

• Hyperlocal weather forecasts for a week
• Lightning warning 30 to 45 minutes before a potential strike
• Irrigation, pests and crop nutrition advisory based on IoT sensors, satellite imagery and hyperspectral drone imagery
• Facilitate crop care and soil care products for reducing toxicity in soil and hence the harvest
• Savings in seeds and inputs through economy of scale
• Best price for the harvest through access to market

Currently under development and planned for launch in June 2025, STAGE will enable automated and targeted interventions:

Targeted fertilizer spraying using drones only where needed. Targeted pesticide/insecticide/fungicide spraying using drones only where needed

As a long-term initiative, we are also working on contributing to Carbon neutrality and Net Zero goals of the Indian Government, by helping create green campuses across India, with initial focus on schools. Through our CLAAP (Climate Awareness and Action Program) we help schools get certified as “Green Schools” by the Centre for Science & Environment” (CSE). This initiative will be expanded to colleges, Universities and other campuses over the years.

We are targeting installing an automatic weather station in every campus, helping them monitor and manage their hyperlocal weather conditions. With a dense network of weather stations across India in campuses and farms, Hydenmet will be able to provide Lat/Long level accurate environmental intelligence for business continuity and personal safety & comfort.