Pinoy student eyes innovate farming; clinches Red Bull 2024 world finals

Report by Chino Brendon Tangonan | Photo Credits to Soj Gamayon

Aldrin Sojourner “Soj” Gamayon took home the first victory of the Philippines in the Red Bull Basement 2024 World Finals last December 2-5, 2024, in Tokyo, Japan, with his application, AgriConnect PH.

Currently, Gamayon is searching for developers to create a fully functional prototype of the application and hopes to complete a working version by March 2025.

His application, AgriConnect PH integrated AI in agriculture to aid farmers in managing risks such as pests, soil moisture levels, water levels, and unpredictable weather.

“I was not expecting to win because I had a higher purpose for me. Like, winning would be such an extra,” says Gamayon, who comes from a rice-farming background.

The 21-year-old student from Ateneo aims to empower 1 million farmers by 2035 by placing smart sensors in the four corners of a farmer’s field. These sensors will collect data, which will then be transferred and interpreted by an AI-powered application using a traffic light system to indicate risk levels.

In this system, green means normal, yellow means a mild threat, and red means a serious threat. The application will alert the farmer to take action accordingly and prevent losses.

Through the AI-powered farm monitoring application, the young student from Ilocos aims to safeguard farmers’ crops and reduce annual production losses by 30%, which commonly stems from the lack of real-time threat detection.

The fourth-year BS Communications Technology Management student will attend a three-week accelerator program in Los Angeles and Silicon Valley, where he will receive mentorship from Plug and Play VC and industry experts.

Meanwhile, the young innovator advised his fellow youth to “not think, just do.”

“If you have an idea, just write it down… as long as you just took the first step, that’s what matters,” he added.

The Red Bull Basement is a global competition for young student innovators and entrepreneurs that focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) and technology in solving societal problems in which Soj bested over 110,000 entries from 39 countries with his pitch idea.

The winner was judged based on the criteria of business potential, uniqueness of idea, feasibility, and the profile of the founder.