全球各地的农民正面临一个紧迫问题：他们用于耕作、播种和收获农场的设备正在吞噬其利润。研究估计，土壤板结可使产量降低20%至60%.翻耕或许能缓解这一问题，但这是一项费力且成本高昂的工作，还会以不同方式损害土壤健康。Muju Earth开发了一种替代方案Aeropod，无需机械或机器人即可自动给土壤通气。这家初创公司表示，该设备可以改善土壤健康，同时将农民的耕作成本降低一半或更多。
Farmers around the world face a pressing problem: the equipment they use to till, plant, and harvest their fields is killing their margins. Studies have estimated that soil compaction can reduce yields by 20% to 60%. Plowing can help, but it’s a laborious and expensive task that harms soil health in different ways. Muju Earth has developed an alternative, the Aeropod, which automatically aerates the soil without machinery or robotics. The startup says it can promote better soil health while cutting farmers’ tilling costs by half or more.
Afolayan表示，这种设备“被造得像一粒种子，播撒起来像一粒种子，运输起来也像一粒种子”。设备大小与指甲相当，农民可以使用相同的设备，将它与种子一起撒入土壤，无需提前翻耕。
The device is “built like a seed, it sows like a seed, and it ships like a seed,” Afolayan said. The device is about the size of a fingernail, and farmers drop it in the soil alongside their seeds using the same equipment. There’s no need to till the soil in advance.
该公司联合创始人兼首席执行官Ifeoluwa Afolayan告诉TechCrunch：“这看起来确实是一个无需多想的方案。”
The device is “built like a seed, it sows like a seed, and it ships like a seed,” Afolayan said. The device is about the size of a fingernail, and farmers drop it in the soil alongside their seeds using the same equipment. There’s no need to till the soil in advance.
Aeropod在经历温度、压力和湿度的共同作用后，会爆裂开来，疏松土壤并形成细小通道，使空气、水和根系更容易在土壤中移动。
“It just really seems like a no-brainer,” Ifeoluwa Afolayan, the company’s co-founder and CEO, tells TechCrunch.
Muju Earth是今年10月在旧金山举行的TechCrunch Disrupt大会上参加TechCrunch Startup Battlefield的200家初创公司之一。该公司已在实验室环境中测试其设备，并将于今年秋季在英国开展付费田间试验。目前有9名农民参与试验，另有30多名农民等候参加。
After the Aeropod is exposed to a combination of temperature, pressure, and moisture, it bursts open, loosening the soil and creating small channels that let air, water and roots move through it more easily. Muju Earth — one of the 200 startups in this year’s TechCrunch Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco in October — has tested its devices in lab settings and is embarking on paid field trials this fall in the UK. Nine farmers are participating, and the startup has more than 30 on a waitlist.
Afolayan表示，其最初的目标市场是英国洋葱种植者，因为洋葱对土壤板结尤其敏感。
Muju Earth — one of the 200 startups in this year’s TechCrunch Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco in October — has tested its devices in lab settings and is embarking on paid field trials this fall in the UK. Nine farmers are participating, and the startup has more than 30 on a waitlist.
Afolayan表示，计入人工、柴油和设备磨损等因素，每公顷土地翻耕一次的成本约为250至400英镑。她说，Aeropod只需每公顷100英镑，就能取得类似的效果。
Its initial target market is onion growers in the UK since onions are particularly sensitive to soil compaction, Afolayan said.
Aeropod这款产品的诞生可以追溯到 Afolayan 与联合创始人 Wangyang Hu 在伦敦帝国理工学院工作的时期。当时，他们致力于设计一种既能提升农民收益、又能改善土壤健康状况的产品。Aeropod 的开发过程始终围绕着这样一个核心问题：“如何让使用该产品的过程变得像播种种子一样简单？”Afolayan 说道：“这是对全球所有农民来说最公平、最实用的方法。”除了农民之外，这家初创公司还收到了来自生物改良剂开发公司的反馈——这些改良剂被添加到土壤中，通常含有活菌，能够替代或增强化学肥料的效果。由于这些改良剂在透气性良好的土壤中效果最佳，因此这些公司非常希望与 Aeropod 进行合作。
Tilling a field once might cost around £250 to £400 per hectare when factoring in labor costs, diesel, and wear-and-tear on equipment, Afolayan said. Aeropods should produce similar results at just £100 per hectare, she said. Aeropods were born during Afolayan’s and co-founder Wangyang Hu’s time at Imperial College London, where they sought to design a product that would improve farmers’ bottom lines while also aiding soil health. The Aeropod’s development was driven by a single question: “How do you make this as simple as sowing a seed?” Afolayan said. “That’s the most equitable practice across every farmer on the planet.” In addition to farmers, the startup has also heard from companies developing biologic amendments — products added to soil, often containing living microbes, that boost or replace chemical fertilizers. Because those companies’ products work best in aerated soils, they’re interested in pairing with Aeropods.
不过 Afolayan 表示，实际上是农民们率先采用了这款产品。到目前为止，大部分推广工作都是农民们主动发起的。“Aeropod 最棒的地方在于，农民们能够直观地理解它的价值与作用。”她说。
But Afolayan said that farmers themselves have been leading adoption. Most of the marketing to date has been inbound. “The best thing about Aeropod is the farmers intuitively understand the proposition,” she said.
Muju Earth 是今年 TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 竞赛中的参赛团队之一。这项比赛是 TechCrunch Disrupt 活动的一部分，将于 10 月在旧金山举行，最终将有 20 支团队在主舞台上进行展示。
Muju Earth is one of 200 startups in this year’s TechCrunch Startup Battlefield, a pitch competition at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco in October in which 20 finalists will present on the main stage.