Entrepreneurs of the agriculture industry in Mexico have taken advantage of the popularity of cryptocurrencies to develop a virtual asset to invest in the production of habanero pepper in Quintana Roo.
With just MXN$500 (USD$ 26.7*), anyone can purchase one “agrocoin,” equivalent to a square meter of a habanero pepper crop. According to its developers, you can obtain up to 30% return , which is backed by production.
“Agrocoin is a cryptocurrency which considers square meters instead of hectares. The investment 10,000 meters would require we can now do it per meter,” explained Rodrigo Domenzain, president of the company Amar Hidroponia , the creator of the concept.
The idea sprang out of the need to find more investors who could acquire the franchise model Amar Hidroponia uses, wherein a hectare is equivalent to MXN$3.1 million.
“We're selling a share of hydroponic habanero pepper production through this mechanism. We created the whole concept on a digital platform where you can pay with a debit or credit card, or a bank transfer,” Domenzain explains.
Amar Hidroponia has currently 100 hectares reserved for the investment through their “agrocoins” and days after being launched, they already have 800 users.
(Photo: Courtesy of AMAR HIDROPONIA)
Similarly to other digital currencies, “agrocoins” have the blockchain technology, a system which allows investment and tracking in real time. Thus, from the agrocoin website of Amar Hidroponia, in Spanish, you can invest in habanero pepper production from anywhere in the world.
For Domenzain, the development of financial technology – fintech – is a growth alternative for the agriculture industry, with the possibility of offering better returns to both, producers and investors.
Amar Hidroponia is a Mexican company which produces and supplies hydroponic habanero pepper to the U.S. market – a large consumer of organic products.
Their 120-hectare hydroponic plant is located in Quintana Roo and they have over 40 franchisees.
The company has plans to expand to Canada , Asia , and South America , while they continue promoting sustainable agriculture with hydroponic courses in Mexico City and Cancun.
At an exchange rate of USD$1 = MXN$ 18.6
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