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Mission
This project was inspired by a Hackathon competition when me and my team traveleled
to Maine and spoke to local farmers where they brought up some of the agricultural issues and the complications
that they have as we shift towards the the informational age.
Our goal is to facilitate and create a platform to connect local farmers and businesses so that it is easier for gardeners/hobbyists
to receive access to better quality and more inexpensive products no matter where they are located, all while supporting and fostering
relationships between smaller vendors.
From 2011 to 2016 organic farming has
risen by 56% ($7.6 billion)
, yet still making up a very small share of U.S. farmland, a total of 1%.
Despite this, domestic supply in organic agriculture has been increasing rapidly and demand for other agricultural products is increasing even quicker
(20% annually).
Currently, one can only find standard types of seeds or limited with their selection of choice when purchasing vegetable/fruit seeds, hindering for an organic or non-GMO cultivation.
Even If one can find local distributors for these products, they are not always held in a quantity that meets one's demands, especially farmers.
Similarly, for many gardeners and hobbyists one of the problems they face with is the accessibility in acquiring seeds from different zones. Many stores only provide only seeds that are
optimal for that specific zone or region, but with the increase of greenhouse farming many can plant and sustain vegitation from different zones.
Even though one may find many of these seeds online, most sites do not have a well maintained and categorized inventory to find them based on personalized needs
This forces many to resort to other large corporations and distributors such as Monsanto. At a larger scale, when farmers want to find a seed based on how long they will last,
the hybrid status of the seed, and the quality of the seed, there is no way to filter that based on personal specifications leading to uncertainty in quality online.
Solution
Seedbase. Our search engine and tool based service providing local farmers, businesses, and garden enthusiasts an efficient solution to finding, comparing,
and filtering criteria that gardeners account for when planting seeds, such as price, hybrid status, and much more - offering a wide variety of products of vegetation and flowers.
Using a organized compilation of passionate local businesses and farms offering more accessibility to fresher and cheaper products.
More than just offers multiple search options and filters allowing you find a product based on your needs. Our backend utilizes elasticsearch in order to
enhance and provide a sophisticated search engine for products while using Kibana in order to recieve realtime data updates and analytics on what customers
are most interested in, gathering information regarding agricultural demands to cater to individuals needs.
Awards and Recognitions
- Won "Best Data at the Source" Project at HackAE (America East Hackathon)
- Accepted and recognized as top 10 idea at UMBC Idea Competition
React
Node
MongoDB
Elasticsearch
Docker
JavaScript
Python
More Info
- v 0.0.1 Demo (optimized for desktop)
from Hackathon
- full project on Github
- Presentation