Venture · Agrotechnology
Project Agrotech: precision ginger farming in Sepang
Project Agrotech grows young ginger (halia muda) on a 10-acre site in Sepang, Selangor. It combines Internet of Things (IoT) fertigation with written standard operating procedures (SOPs), so that each growing cycle follows a controlled, repeatable method.
How the farm works
Fertigation delivers water and nutrients to the crop through the irrigation system. In Project Agrotech, sensors and controls manage that delivery, and the operating partner runs planting to documented SOPs. The crop grows in a carbonised paddy husk substrate.
The aim is a farm that behaves predictably. When inputs are measured and procedures are written down, results can be compared from one cycle to the next and the method can be repeated on new land.
Our role
Blackbriar works with the founding team to source landowners and project or equity financiers. Our principals take an operating role in the venture. A specialist operating partner runs the planting under its own SOPs, and we hold that partner to them.
- Sector
- Agrotechnology
- Crop
- Young ginger (halia muda)
- Site
- 10 acres, Sepang, Selangor
- Method
- IoT-enabled fertigation, written SOPs
- Blackbriar role
- Principal; sourcing land and financiers
- Looking for
- Project and equity financiers, landowners
The control loop
How an IoT fertigation system works
The sequence below describes the general method. Specific equipment and set points are shared in diligence.
- 1
Sense
Sensors read conditions in the growing substrate, such as moisture and nutrient levels.
- 2
Compare
A controller compares the readings with the targets in the SOP.
- 3
Dose
A dosing unit mixes water and nutrients to the required strength.
- 4
Deliver
Drip lines deliver the mix to each bed, and the loop repeats.
Diligence points
What a financier should examine
Farming carries risks that technology reduces but does not remove. We expect careful questions on each of these.
- Land and tenure. Rights to use the site, its term and any conditions attached.
- Crop and weather risk. Yield variability across cycles and the plan for adverse conditions.
- Price and offtake. Who buys the crop, at what price and under what terms.
- Execution. How closely the operating partner follows the SOPs and how we verify it.
- Use of capital. What funds site infrastructure and what funds each growing cycle.
Discuss Project Agrotech with a principal
We share a diligence pack with investors who can lawfully receive it.