Key Takeaways
- Jon Trask discussed with us how Dimitra’s mobile-first platforms allow farmers in remote areas to collect and sync data offline, with cooperative-led deployment ensuring access even where device ownership is limited.
- The company is helping Latin American fruit exporters, including ABRAFRUTAS members who account for roughly 80% of Brazil’s fresh fruit exports, demonstrate compliance with the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
- Dimitra’s AI generates plot-level, coordinate-specific recommendations rather than regional averages, making insights relevant even for farms smaller than one hectare.
- Farmer onboarding is driven by community-embedded “digital champions,” with a recent Kenya deployment training an average of ten farmers per champion per day and targeting one million farmers by year-end.
- Trask sees 2026 as a turning point for agriculture within national AI strategies, driven by tightening regulatory standards, climate volatility, and food-security concerns.
As global food systems face mounting pressure from climate change, tightening regulations, and a growing population, the intersection of agriculture and artificial intelligence is drawing serious attention from governments and industry alike. Jon Trask, CEO and Founder of Dimitra, spoke with iGrow News about how his company is deploying AI, blockchain, and satellite technology to support smallholder farmers across Africa, Latin America, and Asia—and why 2026 may mark a decisive year for digital agriculture.
Designing for Connectivity Gaps in Remote Regions
One of the most persistent challenges in agricultural technology is reaching the farmers who need it most—those operating in areas with unreliable power and limited internet access. Dimitra’s response has been to engineer every platform as mobile-first, enabling farmers to register land, capture soil data, complete deforestation risk assessments, and log crop health directly from their phones. The platform uses local device storage so that data can be recorded without an active internet connection and uploaded automatically once a signal becomes available.
“Any technology that fails to account for that reality will fail the people who need it most,” Trask said, adding that Dimitra’s cooperative-led deployment model ensures that where device ownership is limited, cooperatives provide devices and assist with farmer training. He noted the model has been effective in countries including Indonesia, Brazil, Uganda, and Kenya. “Connectivity will improve across Africa over time, but our platforms are built to meet farmers where they are today, and grow with them as that infrastructure develops.”
Jon Trask on EUDR Compliance for Latin American Exporters
With the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation placing new demands on agricultural exporters, compliance has become a pressing concern for producers in Latin America—particularly in Brazil, where global scrutiny around deforestation is concentrated. Dimitra has been working with ABRAFRUTAS, whose members account for approximately 80% of the total volume of fresh fruit exported from Brazil, to help those producers meet EUDR traceability and ethical sourcing requirements.
Trask emphasized that compliance is ongoing. “EUDR compliance is not a one-time exercise, and EU buyers will now expect continuously verified data on things like origin, land use, and sustainability practices,” he said. Dimitra has active projects in countries including Mexico and Brazil, and Trask stated the company is committed to engaging with local partners to ensure Latin American farmers maintain access to competitive markets amid evolving global regulation.
How Dimitra’s AI Serves Micro-Farming
In regions like India, Indonesia, and Uganda, fragmented landholdings of less than one hectare are common. Dimitra’s platform handles this through plot-level data collection, mapping satellite imagery, soil analysis, and crop monitoring to precise coordinates. According to Trask, recommendations are generated based on the conditions of each specific plot rather than regional averages.
“A recommendation generated for a smallholder plot in any of these countries is based on the conditions of that plot, not a regional average that may have very little bearing on what that specific farmer is dealing with,” he explained. “These targeted insights help farmers calibrate their land to give them the best yields possible.”
Why 2026 Is a Pivotal Year for AgTech Policy
Trask described 2026 as a tipping point for the integration of agriculture into national AI strategies, as governments shift from broad AI investment toward sectors where the technology can deliver measurable impact in areas such as yields, input efficiency, and rural incomes. He pointed to India as an example, referencing Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who has publicly asserted that India must prioritize agriculture within its national AI strategy, framing it as both an economic and national security concern.
“In an era marked by climate volatility, geopolitical tension, and food-security concerns, these pressures make data-rich, AI-enabled agriculture not only an economic priority but also a political necessity,” Trask said, noting that farm policy is now closely tied to inflation management, national security, and climate targets.
Jon Trask on the Productivity Paradox
Asked about India’s agricultural sector—which employs nearly half the workforce but contributes less than a fifth of GDP—Trask acknowledged the potential of digital agriculture to improve productivity and value creation, while cautioning that results will depend on implementation quality and farmer adoption.
“At Dimitra, we understand that for digital agriculture to maximise impact, it must be trusted and mastered by smallholder farmers,” he said. “The potential gains are substantial, but the real impact will depend on thoughtful, inclusive implementation across the agricultural ecosystem.”
Blockchain’s Role in Dimitra’s Technology Stack
Trask was direct about blockchain’s function within Dimitra. Rather than positioning it as a standalone feature, he described it as an immutable ledger that ensures data provenance and verifiability. This layer supports a range of tools that can help reduce operating costs or create new revenue streams for farmers, including advice around farm planning, input optimization, waste management, pest and disease control, and preventative measures based on specific farm conditions.
“The extent to which Dimitra’s toolset helps to reduce operational costs for farmers ultimately depends on the amount of data farmers provide,” Trask explained. He added that as the tools become more familiar with a farmer’s working reality through continuous data provision, the recommendations increasingly lead to cost reductions through an overall optimization of farming practices.
Making Complex Data Accessible
Given that many of Dimitra’s users have limited formal education, the platform translates raw data—such as soil moisture levels and nitrogen readings—into accessible information supported by intuitive icons, colour-coded alerts, audio instructions, and step-by-step guidance.
“We’re acutely aware that education can be a boundary for technology adoption, and we designed our platform to make the integration of Dimitra tools into farmer workflows as intuitive as possible, regardless of formal education,” Trask said. The company also conducts on-the-ground training through its partners to build a sufficient baseline for farmers to integrate the technology into their workflows.
Jon Trask on Onboarding Millions Through Digital Champions
Trask acknowledged that skepticism toward new technology among farming communities is understandable and should be respected. Dimitra’s approach relies on trusted partners who train “digital champions” embedded within farming communities—individuals who speak the local language and can onboard farmers directly in the field.
“A farmer is much more likely to adopt a new tool when it is introduced by a community member they already know and respect,” Trask said. He cited a recent deployment in Kenya where 11 digital champions are training an average of ten farmers per day, putting the company’s goal of reaching one million farmers by year-end “well within our reach.” He added: “Technology adoption at scale requires a human bridge, and we invest in building that bridge deliberately.”
Looking Toward 2030
Looking ahead, Trask rejected the notion that technology will reduce the farmer’s role to that of a data manager. Instead, he framed the goal as equipping farmers with additional tools that make their work more efficient.
“By 2030, I believe the farmers who have adopted these contemporary tools, such as those we offer at Dimitra, will be more productive, operating on healthier land, earning more consistent incomes, and connected to global markets in ways that were simply not available to them before,” he said. However, he also flagged an equity concern: “The risk by 2030 is that the farmers with the resources to adopt these tools will pull further ahead of those without them. Closing that gap drives the work we do every day.”
