Last updated 3 weeks ago
Farmers struggle to access fair loans because lenders lack a trusted way to assess field-level credit risk. Cardano has no open-source tool that turns FieldNFT data into a usable farmer credit score.
Build open-source SDK/API on Cardano that converts FieldNFT data into a simple, trusted farmer credit score, enabling lenders & RealFi apps to assess risk reliably & support fair smallholder finance.
Please provide your proposal title
FieldNFT Credit with NMKR & DigiFarm: Open-Source SDK/API
Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA
125000
Please specify how many months you expect your project to last
9
Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated
No
Original Language
en
What is the problem you want to solve?
Farmers struggle to access fair loans because lenders lack a trusted way to assess field-level credit risk. Cardano has no open-source tool that turns FieldNFT data into a usable farmer credit score.
Supporting links
Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?
Yes
Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'
Yes. The project has dependencies: • Cardano node/indexer access to read FieldNFT metadata and on-chain transactions. • NMKR metadata infrastructure, already used in Fund 12/13, for sample FieldNFT datasets and schema compatibility. • Optional DID/identity provider (e.g., Atala PRISM or Dominium) for future linkage of scores to farmer identities. • RevMax developer support for backend/API and Plutus evaluator integration. All dependencies are available and pose no delivery risk. The project does not rely on any external enterprise agreements.
Will your project's outputs be fully open source?
No
Please provide details on the intellectual property (IP) status of your project outputs, including whether they will be released as open source or retained under another licence.
This project uses a hybrid IP model. All tooling needed by developers—including the FieldScore SDKs, metadata adapters, API interface, smart-contract examples, and documentation—will be fully open source under the MIT license. Proprietary geospatial datasets and internal agronomic models remain closed due to licensing and commercial restrictions, but are not required for using the open-source components.
Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal
Developer Tools
Describe what makes your idea innovative compared to what has been previously launched in the market (whether by you or others).
Agricultural credit is one of the world’s most persistent financial challenges. More than 300 million smallholder farmers across Africa and Asia still cannot access formal finance, not because they lack the ability to repay, but because lenders have no trusted way to assess risk. Traditional credit scoring requires a bank account, financial history, collateral, or in-person verification—none of which exist for the majority of smallholders. DigiFarm’s FieldNFT data shows that farmers do generate trustworthy signals of performance—but these signals live in satellite-derived metrics, cropping patterns, vegetation indices, land-cover stability, and sustainability indicators. Until now, no one has connected those geospatial signals to an open, blockchain-native credit scoring system.
This proposal introduces something fundamentally new to Cardano, and to the wider Web3 ecosystem: an open-source SDK and scoring engine that transforms satellite-based agricultural field performance into a standardised, reusable FieldScore that any lender, RealFi platform, or developer can integrate into their applications. This is not just an upgrade to existing work—it is the creation of an entirely new category of on-chain utility for Cardano: a field-based creditworthiness primitive.
DigiFarm’s previous Catalyst-funded work (Fund 12 and Fund 13) successfully established the foundation for this: high-resolution field boundaries, historical crop production performance, a sustainability index, and a functioning FieldNFT explorer (https://nfts.digifarm.io/)) powered by NMKR metadata pipelines.
These projects validated the feasibility of using open satellite data and AI to generate trustworthy field-level insights. But they did not create any mechanism to turn this data into a credit model, nor did they produce SDKs, APIs, smart contract evaluators, scoring algorithms, or developer tools. They answered “what is the field?” and “how has it performed?” — but not “what does this mean for farmer creditworthiness?”
This proposal is the logical next step in the evolution of DigiFarm’s RealFi mission, and it introduces innovations that have never been launched in the Cardano ecosystem
No blockchain today—Cardano, Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, or others—offers an open-source credit scoring library that uses field-level agricultural performance. This scoring engine is not a financial score, not a personality score, and not a centralised proprietary algorithm. It is a transparent, reproducible model derived from objective environmental and agronomic factors: field stability, historical yield consistency, vegetation robustness, cropping patterns, moisture signals, and sustainability metrics. It democratises what has traditionally been costly, opaque agricultural risk assessment and makes it openly availabl
Cardano’s RealFi vision aims to create fair, transparent financial tools for underserved populations. Yet today’s RealFi stack lacks a core component: a way to fairly evaluate agricultural credit risk without collateral or credit history. FieldScore fills that gap by providing a lightweight, developer-friendly tool that any dApp can integrate. It becomes a building block for on-chain lending, microfinance, crop insurance, cooperative finance, and subsidy programmes.
The innovation here is not only the score itself but also how it is delivered. Developers will have access to a Rust and TypeScript SDK, a REST API, scoring logic libraries, examples, documentation, and test datasets. In a space where many solutions remain proprietary or siloed, FieldScore becomes the first open, extensible toolkit for agricultural RealFi.
Modern agriculture depends heavily on satellite data, but integrating EO signals into blockchain workflows has remained an unsolved challenge. This project creates that bridge — allowing satellite-derived field insights to influence on-chain decisions through a Plutus evaluator template (e.g., loan approvals, insurance payouts, eligibility thresholds). It brings an entirely new data domain to Cardano’s smart contracts.
NMKR is the infrastructure backbone for FieldNFTs, and this proposal expands that integration into scoring logic. Because the metadata schema is already standardised, FieldScore can be applied to any FieldNFT minted through NMKR or compatible pipelines. This means the impact of this proposal extends far beyond DigiFarm—it becomes an ecosystem-wide standard
Many RealFi proposals aim for end-to-end lending systems, but most struggle because credit scoring is the bottleneck. FieldScore solves this bottleneck for the entire ecosystem by providing a scoring primitive that is easy to embed, transparent to verify, and aligned with lenders’ needs. It is a tool that empowers dozens of future dApps, not just one product.
DigiFarm’s field datasets cover Kenya, Tanzania, India, Romania, and other regions. These geospatial insights have been tested with partners such as Syngenta India Foundation and UNCDF (non-Catalyst projects). This ensures FieldScore is not theoretical—it is grounded in real agronomic conditions and validated through real farmer interactions.
FieldScore innovates at the intersection of:
No existing project in the Cardano ecosystem combines these elements so directly or so purposefully.
This proposal introduces the first-ever open-source, developer-ready agricultural credit scoring engine for Cardano—a tool that transforms objective satellite field data into a usable financial primitive. It is an extension (not duplication) of Fund 12 and Fund 13, enabling RealFi lending, microfinance, and insurance applications to finally evaluate field-level risk consistently, transparently, and fairly.
Describe what your prototype or MVP will demonstrate, and where it can be accessed.
The prototype will demonstrate a fully working, end-to-end FieldNFT Credit Engine deployed on Cardano testnet, where developers, lenders, and RealFi builders can directly interact with the scoring system. The goal is to prove not just that the scoring logic works, but also that it can be reliably integrated into real Cardano applications using SDKs, APIs, and smart contract templates. This prototype is designed to be public, open-source, and easily testable, enabling the community to evaluate the idea in a hands-on and transparent way.
The MVP will consist of five major components, all available publicly:
(1) A testnet-ready API for computing field-level credit scores
(2) Two open-source SDKs (TypeScript and Rust)
(3) A scoring logic module with clearly documented methodology
(4) A developer documentation portal with examples, guides, and integration steps
(5) A minimal Plutus evaluator demonstrating on-chain usage
Together, these components form the first on-chain-compatible agricultural credit scoring tool in the Cardano ecosystem
1. Public Testnet Scoring API
The MVP will include a live, testnet-accessible scoring endpoint that anyone can interact with: POST /score/fieldnft
Users can provide either:
• a FieldNFT policy ID + asset name, or
• the raw CIP-25 / NMKR metadata JSON
The API will return:
• a primary FieldScore (0–100)
• sub-scores (e.g., stability, sustainability, vegetation trends)
• risk classification (low/medium/high)
• metadata validation checks
• explanation fields (why the score is what it is)
The API will be deployed on a public URL with developer-friendly API keys, rate limits, and authentication. Community testers will be able to call the API for free.
Where it will be accessed:
• Public testnet URL (e.g., https://fieldscore-testnet.digifarm.io/))
• A public health-check endpoint
• Open API documentation
This demonstrates a functioning software service, not just a theoretical model.
2. Open-Source SDKs (TypeScript + Rust)
To ensure the credit engine becomes a building block for RealFi developers, the MVP will ship with two SDKs:
• @digifarm/fieldscore (TypeScript)
• fieldscore-rs (Rust)
The SDKs will allow developers to:
• validate FieldNFT metadata
• compute a FieldScore locally or via API
• embed scoring directly into a dApp or script
• handle missing or invalid fields
• implement deterministic scoring for reproducibility
• simulate risk categories
• integrate with NMKR-minted NFTs seamlessly
Both SDKs will be published to:
• npm (TypeScript)
• crates.io (Rust)
• GitHub (open-source, MIT license)
Where they will be accessed:
• npm registry
• crates.io
• GitHub repository with examples and tests
This ensures wide accessibility for JavaScript/TypeScript developers, backend Rust developers, and Plutus/Haskell builders.
3. Scoring Logic Module — Transparent and Reproducible
The MVP includes a fully documented scoring engine based on objective field data. The scoring logic will cover:
• historical crop performance
• NDVI/EVI vegetation signals
• DigiFarm sustainability index
• field geometry stability
• land cover fractions
• confidence metrics
• environmental robustness
• simplified risk weighting formulas
This logic will be deterministic, transparent, and designed to be extended by the community. It will also include:
• test datasets
• unit tests
• edge case handling
• validation for CIP-25 and NMKR metadata
Where it will be accessed:
• Fully open-source on GitHub
• Included in SDKs
• Integrated into the API
This component is critical to demonstrate the feasibility of a field-based RealFi scoring primitive.
4. Developer Documentation Portal
A comprehensive documentation site will be included in the MVP, enabling developers to:
• Understand how FieldScore is computed
• Test the API directly in the browser
• Access sample FieldNFTs
• Copy-paste code examples
• Learn how to embed scoring into their apps
• Explore risk weighting methodologies
• Review integration patterns with NMKR metadata
Documentation will include:
• Quickstart guides
• Scoring walkthroughs
• Sample scripts
• OpenAPI spec
• A tutorial for integrating FieldScore into a lending flow
• Examples demonstrating loanAllowed = FieldScore and X logic
Where it will be accessed:
• Public docs website (e.g., https://docs.digifarm.io/fieldscore))
This will make the MVP easy to understand and usable for hackathon teams, builders, and RealFi developers.
5. Minimal On-Chain Evaluator (Plutus Blueprint)
A lightweight on-chain component will demonstrate how FieldScore can influence smart contract decisions. This validator will not compute the score on-chain but will verify:
• that a FieldScore has been produced
• that it exceeds (or does not exceed) a threshold
• that the transaction matches required metadata
• that the associated FieldNFT is valid
This shows a real, testable path toward:
• on-chain loan approvals
• microfinance workflows
• parametric crop insurance
• field-based eligibility checks
The evaluator will be deployed on Cardano testnet.
Where it will be accessed:
• Testnet contract script hash
• Example transactions
• GitHub repo with code and instructions
This is critical to demonstrate feasibility for RealFi applications.
6. Open GitHub Repository (All Outputs)
All components of the MVP (API, SDKs, scoring logic, Plutus evaluator, docs, sample NFTs) will be published under MIT license. The repo will include:
• source code
• CI/CD pipelines
• tests
• issues and roadmap
• community contribution guidelines
This offers full transparency and invites community participation.
The MVP will demonstrate a full end-to-end working prototype of Cardano’s first agricultural credit scoring engine, accessible through:
• Public API (testnet)
• Open-source SDKs
• Developer documentation site
• On-chain evaluator template
• Open GitHub repository
This prototype is functional, interactive, testable, and ready for real RealFi builders to integrate.
Describe realistic measures of success, ideally with on-chain metrics.
1. Technical Metrics
2. On-Chain Metrics
The MVP will produce:
2.1.On-chain evaluator test transactions
2.2. NFT interactions
3. Integration with public dApps (optional)
4. Ecosystem Metrics
5. Adoption Metrics
6. Open-Source Engagement Metrics
7. Long-Term Vision Metrics (post-project)
Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem
DigiFarm and NMKR propose the development of FieldScore, an open-source SDK & API that transforms FieldNFT metadata into a standardized, reproducible farmer credit score on Cardano. FieldScore addresses the core barrier that prevents smallholder farmers from accessing fair financing: the lack of trusted, transparent risk assessment tools. Here’s how our solution works, and how it bridges the gap between field-data and RealFi credit infrastructure.
1. Data Foundation & Metadata Integration
Our work builds on the robust datasets and FieldNFT infrastructure created in prior Catalyst rounds. Over Funds 12 and 13, DigiFarm captured high-resolution field boundaries across Kenya and Tanzania, mined Earth Observation (EO) data (e.g., NDVI, biomass, soil indices), computed a Sustainability Index (SustInd) and deployed a public FieldNFT explorer at https://nfts.digifarm.io/. That work validated satellite-based field insights and integrated with NMKR’s metadata pipelines. However, it stopped short of delivering a credit scoring model or developer-facing tooling.
Now, we extend that foundation by leveraging CIP-25 compliant metadata via NMKR, extracting the relevant field performance attributes (e.g., last yield, vegetation stability, land-cover fractions, perimeter and exterior area, number of vertices simplified) and feeding them into a standardized scoring engine. By adhering to existing metadata standards, FieldScore can be adopted by any FieldNFT minting pipeline on Cardano, not just our own.
2. Scoring Engine and Developer Toolkit
At the heart of our solution is the FieldScore engine: a reproducible algorithmic module that ingests FieldNFT metadata and outputs a credit score between 0 and 100. The score reflects risk-adjusted agricultural asset performance, accounting for factors such as crop history stability, biomass consistency, field geometry resilience, land-cover change, and confidence metrics drawn from metadata versioning. Developers will receive:
• A Rust SDK (fieldscore-rs) for backend or on-chain bridge use
• A TypeScript SDK (@digifarm/fieldscore) for frontend or Node-based integrations
• A RESTful API with endpoints like POST /score/fieldnft, returning JSON including score, sub-scores, risk category, and explainability fields
• Detailed documentation portal, quickstarts, sample datasets, and integration guides with NMKR metadata\
• A minimal Plutus evaluator blueprint that demonstrates how if FieldScore > X then allowLoan logic can be embedded into smart contracts on Cardano testnet
This enables third-party RealFi platforms, lenders, insurers, and dApp developers to embed field-level credit scoring instantly—turning what used to require months of agronomic risk modelling into days of integration.
3. RealFi On-Chain Use-Case
With FieldScore in place, FieldNFTs become not just data tokens but finance-enabled assets. A lender, for example, can:
Identify a FieldNFT minted for a smallholder farmer
Call our API or SDK to compute a FieldScore
Apply an on-chain smart contract evaluator (deployed on Cardano testnet) to check if the score meets the threshold
If yes, automatically trigger a loan issuance, repayment schedule or parametric insurance contract
This flow converts field-data into actionable finance. Because our solution is open-source and developer-friendly, it powers a broad range of RealFi use-cases — from micro-loans for farmers in Africa to crop-yield insurance in India.
4. Ecosystem and Developer Adoption
We designed FieldScore as a toolkit, not a closed product. By publishing under the MIT license, shipping SDKs, and maintaining a public GitHub repository with CI pipelines and examples, we ensure that the wider Cardano developer ecosystem can adopt, extend and iterate the scoring engine. FieldScore thus becomes a reusable infrastructure primitive for agriculture-based RealFi, bridging Cardano’s RealFi vision of the network becoming a “$1 billion TVL” platform by 2026. 
5. Technical Feasibility and Timeline
Over 4 months (₳60,000 budget), we will deliver:
• Month 1: SDKs + metadata adapters
• Month 2: REST API deployment on testnet
• Month 3: On-chain evaluator template and integration
• Month 4: Developer documentation, public test-endpoint, developer hackathon starter kit
Because we already have field data, NMKR metadata pipelines, and partner agreements secured with RevMax for backend engineering, the development risk is low.
6. Impact on Cardano Network
By enabling field-data to become finance-enabled, FieldScore accelerates Cardano’s RealFi strategy. It broadens the ecosystem of developers, increases on-chain transactional activity, and supports emerging market credit flows. Lenders and dApps built on Cardano will adopt FieldScore as a standardized primitive, reducing fragmentation and increasing reuse. The open-source nature of the toolkit ensures broad developer participation, generating GitHub activity, testnet transactions and the beginnings of a community around agricultural RealFi infrastructure.
In summary, our solution takes the foundation of FieldNFTs built in Funds 12/13 and elevates it into a production-ready, developer-friendly credit-scoring engine. FieldScore bridges field-data and finance on Cardano — a gap no existing Catalyst project has yet addressed. With this solution, we empower thousands of developers, support millions of smallholders, and enable a new generation of RealFi applications in the Cardano ecosystem.
Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community
This project will deliver multiple, layered impacts across the Cardano ecosystem, smallholder farmer communities in emerging markets, and developer adoption globally.
1. Accelerating Cardano’s RealFi Vision
Charles Hoskinson has publicly declared that RealFi — real-world finance built on Cardano — is a cornerstone of Cardano’s growth strategy, targeting a TVL of over ₳1 billion by end of 2026.
By delivering an open-source credit-scoring primitive for agriculturally-tokenised assets (FieldNFTs), this project helps enable the vast micro-lending, insurance and input financing flows required to realise that ambition. It fundamentally expands the types of assets and use-cases that can plug into Cardano’s RealFi stack.
2. Empowering Developers & Expanding the Ecosystem
By publishing SDKs (Rust + TypeScript), a public API, documentation, and testnet endpoints, this project lowers the barrier for builders on Cardano to create new RealFi applications. Developers will no longer need to invent bespoke scoring logic — they can adopt the FieldScore engine out-of-the-box. This will increase developer velocity, promote reuse, and drive more projects live on Cardano.
Additionally, the project builds on prior Catalyst-funded work (Funds 12 and 13) but moves into infrastructure layer — signalling to the community that DigiFarm and NMKR are pipeline leaders, which deepens trust and reverberates throughout the ecosystem.
3. Real-World Financial Inclusion for Smallholder Farmers
Smallholder farmers worldwide are locked out of affordable credit because lenders cannot quantify field-level risk. DigiFarm’s prior work already mapped and tokenised field boundaries and performance data in Kenya, Tanzania and India.  This proposal transforms that foundation into actionable credit scores, enabling cooperatives, microfinance institutions, insurers and input suppliers to make data-driven decisions.
As a result:
4. Standardising Asset Tokenisation and Metadata on Cardano
By partnering with NMKR and building on CIP-25 metadata standards, the project promotes reuse of tokenised field assets and scoring engines. This standardisation means future minting pipelines, NFT marketplaces, and RealFi platforms will have interoperable tools and metadata schemas, increasing the composability of the Cardano ecosystem.
5. On-Chain Activity and Developer Metrics
The project anticipates:
These metrics drive usage, show real adoption, and generate measurable on-chain value for Cardano.
6. Environmental and Social Co-Benefits
While the primary focus is financial inclusion, the project also contributes to sustainable agriculture, improved food security and better resource usage in emerging markets. DigiFarm’s earlier work emphasised these goals.
By enabling more efficient farming, improved access to finance and better risk assessment, this infrastructure supports heightened productivity, lower input waste, and more resilient small-holder communities.
7. Multiplier Effect & Ecosystem Scalability
Once the FieldScore engine is live, the ripple-effects include:
• Developers building new dApps that embed it (credit, insurance, inputs)
• Hackathons and community-driven extensions (open-source nature)
• More NFT-based asset classes coming online (fields, crops, land parcels)
• Cardano’s narrative around RealFi and real-world assets gets strengthened
This multiplies impact beyond the scope of the project itself.
Summary:
This project aligns tightly with Cardano’s strategic goals, delivers reusable developer tooling, drives real-world finance for smallholder farmers, and strengthens the infrastructure layer for RealFi. It accelerates adoption, increases on-chain utility, expands the developer base, and empowers underserved agricultural communities. In doing so, it positions Cardano not just as a blockchain platform, but as a financial inclusion engine for emerging markets and beyond.
What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?
Capabilities and Feasibility – Trust, Accountability and Validation
DigiFarm has a proven track-record of delivering agricultural blockchain solutions. Our team combines deep agronomy, geospatial modelling, and blockchain development expertise. In the last two Catalyst funds (Fund 12 and Fund 13) we built and rolled out a production-grade FieldNFT platform: field boundaries, satellite & AI derived biomass and vegetation indices, sustainability index, and FieldNFT explorer at nfts.digifarm.io.
We are partnered with NMKR — a market-leading Cardano NFT infrastructure provider, having minted millions of NFTs and open-sourced their tooling. NMKR brings robust production-grade metadata pipelines and Cardano network integration. This partnership de-risks the technical delivery of metadata ingestion and compatibility.
Our development partner, RevMax (Udai & team), brings backend/API engineering and smart-contract (Plutus) expertise. (Note: their link/profile will be referenced in the full submission.)
Why our capability is high-trust
How we intend to validate feasibility
Accountability and Governance
Because the groundwork (data, metadata, tokenisation) is already complete in prior funds, the main risk is reduced to execution of the developer tooling and on-chain integration — a well-bounded scope for a 4-month delivery. Given our domain experience, partner stack, open-source approach, and pilot field dataset, we believe the solution is highly feasible and aligned for rapid deployment in the Cardano ecosystem.
Milestone Title
Milestone 1 — Core Scoring Library + Metadata Adapters (Months 1–2)
Milestone Outputs
A. Outputs
Acceptance Criteria
B. Acceptance Criteria
Evidence of Completion
C. Evidence of Completion
Delivery Month
2
Cost
40000
Progress
30 %
Milestone Title
Milestone 2 — REST API Testnet Deployment (Months 3–4)
Milestone Outputs
A. Outputs
Acceptance Criteria
B. Acceptance Criteria
Evidence of Completion
C. Evidence of Completion
Delivery Month
4
Cost
35000
Progress
60 %
Milestone Title
Milestone 3 — Smart Contract Evaluator & Developer Demo (Months 5–7)
Milestone Outputs
A. Outputs
Acceptance Criteria
B. Acceptance Criteria
Testnet evaluator contract deployed and publicly accessible.
Evidence of Completion
C. Evidence of Completion
Delivery Month
7
Cost
30000
Progress
80 %
Milestone Title
Milestone 4 — Final Documentation Pack, Developer Guides & Close-Out Report (Months 8–9)
Milestone Outputs
A. Outputs
Acceptance Criteria
B. Acceptance Criteria
Evidence of Completion
C. Evidence of Completion
Delivery Month
9
Cost
20000
Progress
100 %
Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources
The budget is fully allocated to future development work required to deliver the FieldScore SDK, REST API, on-chain evaluator, documentation, and open-source repos.
No portion of the budget will be used for incentives, giveaways, liquidity, or retroactive work — fully compliant with Fund 15 rules.
Core engineering required to design, build, test, and launch the FieldScore prototype.
Includes:
This work forms the functional foundation of the MVP and consumes the majority of the technical effort.
Covers cloud and platform requirements to run a public testnet API.
Includes:
Ensures that the prototype functions reliably and remains reachable for reviewers and developers.
Ensures the SDK, API and evaluator are stable and interoperable.
Includes:
This ensures feasibility, reliability, and accurate risk scoring.
Covers all public documentation and developer-facing outputs.
Includes:
This milestone is essential for adoption and aligns with Prototype & Launch requirements.
Ensures the project stays on track, compliant, and transparent.
Includes:
PM costs are kept below Catalyst’s recommended threshold (<20%).
Total Budget Requested: ₳125,000 ADA
This budget supports a full end-to-end delivery: SDKs, API, metadata adapters, evaluator contract, documentation, testnet deployment, and external validation.
How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?
This proposal represents a strong, cost-efficient and strategically impactful use of ADA because it delivers a complete open-source prototype for agricultural credit scoring on Cardano at a development cost significantly below typical blockchain engineering rates. Every ADA requested contributes directly to new technical outputs—SDKs, APIs, metadata adapters, documentation, and testnet smart-contract evaluators—without duplicating any work funded in previous Catalyst rounds.
A major reason this project offers exceptional value is DigiFarm’s highly cost-efficient development capacity. While EU/US blockchain developers commonly charge $90–150 per hour, and Cardano/Plutus developers often exceed $120–180 per hour, DigiFarm’s engineering team operates at approximately $40–45 per hour—less than half the global market rate. This allows Catalyst to receive 2–3× more engineering output per ADA than comparable Western blockchain projects. With the requested ₳125,000, we are able to deliver a full SDK, a REST API, scoring logic, a testnet evaluator contract, and comprehensive documentation—functionality that would typically require two to three times the budget in other markets.
The project is also highly efficient because it builds directly on a proven foundation from Funds 12 and 13. DigiFarm has already delivered large-scale field boundaries, metadata schemas, sustainability indices and the FieldNFT explorer (nfts.digifarm.io). None of that work is being repeated here; instead, this proposal develops the next critical layer of infrastructure: a credit-scoring engine and open-source developer toolkit. This layered approach maximises ROI for Catalyst, ensuring that each round of funding creates new capabilities on top of prior investments.
Additionally, the team composition is optimized to avoid unnecessary overhead. DigiFarm provides domain expertise, scoring methodology and EO data engineering; NMKR provides the CIP-25 metadata pipelines and Cardano infrastructure; RevMax contributes backend, API and Plutus smart-contract engineering. This combination avoids expensive external consultants and uses already-proven working relationships from earlier Catalyst collaborations. The cost structure directly reflects the roles required for a full end-to-end prototype, with no marketing expenses, no giveaways, no retroactive funding, and no non-compliant items.
Every deliverable is open-source under the MIT licence, ensuring the community receives long-term value that extends well beyond the lifespan of this project. Once released, the FieldScore SDK/API can be reused by RealFi developers, lending platforms, insurance providers, dApp teams, hackathon groups and academic researchers. This reduces future Catalyst funding requirements because multiple new projects will be able to build on this primitive without needing to spend funds recreating the same infrastructure.
The prototype itself creates tangible ecosystem value. It enables new categories of RealFi applications on Cardano: microfinance lending, field-based underwriting, agricultural insurance, carbon/yield-linked financing and more. We expect thousands of scoring API calls, hundreds of FieldNFT interactions and numerous developer integrations. These activities directly contribute to network usage, attract new builders and reinforce Cardano’s position as the leading blockchain for real-world financial infrastructure.
Finally, execution risk is extremely low. DigiFarm has successfully delivered three prior Catalyst-funded projects with public outputs and audited milestones. NMKR has delivered over 2 million NFT mints and is one of the most experienced Cardano infrastructure teams. RevMax has already collaborated with DigiFarm on blockchain-enabled agricultural R&D. This combination of experience, proven delivery and cost-efficiency ensures a high-probability, high-impact outcome for the requested budget.
In summary: ₳125,000 funds a full open-source prototype—SDK, scoring engine, REST API, metadata adapters, testnet evaluator and full documentation—at a cost far below industry norms, with high long-term utility for the Cardano ecosystem and strong alignment with Cardano’s RealFi strategy. This represents excellent value for money.
I confirm that evidence of prior research, whitepaper, design, or proof-of-concept is provided.
Yes
I confirm that the proposal includes ecosystem research and uses the findings to either (a) justify its uniqueness over existing solutions or (b) demonstrate the value of its novel approach.
Yes
I confirm that the proposal demonstrates technical capability via verifiable in-house talent or a confirmed development partner (GitHub, LinkedIn, portfolio, etc.)
Yes
I confirm that the proposer and all team members are in good standing with prior Catalyst projects.
Yes
I confirm that the proposal clearly defines the problem and the value of the on-chain utility.
Yes
I confirm that the primary goal of the proposal is a working prototype deployed on at least a Cardano testnet.
Yes
I confirm that the proposal outlines a credible and clear technical plan and architecture.
Yes
I confirm that the budget and timeline (≤ 12 months) are realistic for the proposed work.
Yes
I confirm that the proposal includes a community engagement and feedback plan to amplify prototype adoption with the Cardano ecosystem.
Yes
I confirm that the budget is for future development only; excludes retroactive funding, incentives, giveaways, re-granting, or sub-treasuries.
Yes
I Agree
Yes
DigiFarm brings deep experience in satellite-driven agricultural analytics, geospatial data engineering, and field-level performance modelling. The team has deployed commercial agricultural AI systems across 100+ million hectares, achieving >90% accuracy in crop detection and >85% accuracy in yield forecasting for major row crops (US, Brazil, EU). DigiFarm has successfully delivered Catalyst Fund 11, 12 and 13 projects, including the FieldNFT platform and FieldBoundary datasets now used as the foundation for this proposal.
Key members:
Nils Helset – CEO, Founder (Project Lead):15th-generation farmer, precision-ag specialist, and product lead for all FieldNFT development. Led multiple national ag-data programs across Norway and East Africa. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nilshelset/
Konstantin Varik – CTO (Lead AI/Data Engineer): Expert in satellite data modelling, EO analytics, and algorithm development. Built the AI-models for national-scale crop-yield prediction (98–99% accuracy) for USDA contracts. Will architect the FieldScore algorithm and scoring logic. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/varik/
Alex Melnitchouck – Senior Agronomy/Systems Architect: Founder of Zoner.ag (acquired by BASF in 2015; later became the engine behind Xarvio). 20+ years in geospatial agriculture, precision-ag R&D, and platform system design. Will guide metadata integration and risk-factor engineering. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-melnitchouck-8977a522/
NMKR (Official Partner – NFT Metadata, CIP-25, and Cardano Infrastructure)
NMKR is the most widely adopted NFT minting and metadata infrastructure on Cardano, responsible for minting over 2 million NFTs for clients including IOG, Emurgo, Cardano Foundation, and multiple enterprise and government partners. NMKR recently open-sourced its studio, demonstrating strong alignment with Catalyst’s open-source requirements.
Role in this project:
Key Member:
Patrick Tobler – Founder & CEO of NMKR
Cardano blockchain engineer and founder of the largest NFT minting stack on Cardano.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-tobler-6593b912b/
RevMax (Technical Engineering Partner – Backend, API, Plutus Integration)
RevMax, led by Udai and team, is an experienced Cardano development group already collaborating with DigiFarm in Fund 13 (Syngenta partnership project). They specialise in:
• Backend/API development
• Cardano indexing and data pipelines
• Plutus smart-contract integration
• Developer tooling and documentation
RevMax strengthens the technical capacity for deploying the REST API, testnet evaluator contracts and integrating scoring logic into Cardano workflows.
Key Member:
Udai — Lead Blockchain Engineer (RevMax)
Experienced in Plutus, backend services and Cardano tooling. Previously delivered Cardano-based R&D with DigiFarm + Syngenta India Foundation.
Why this team is ideal for a Prototype and Launch project
• Proven Catalyst Delivery: DigiFarm delivered 3 major Catalyst projects already — all with public outputs and successful audits.
• Deep technical expertise: EO modelling, geospatial analytics, algorithm engineering, backend infrastructure, and smart contracts.
• Production Cardano experience: NMKR + RevMax provide 100% of the required blockchain/metadata/tooling experience.
• Full-stack capability: From data → metadata → SDK → API → smart contract → testnet prototype → documentation.
• Existing sector traction: DigiFarm has active pilots and partners in Kenya, Tanzania, and India — enabling real-world testing and instant adoption.
Together, DigiFarm, NMKR, and RevMax form a complete, high-trust, technically capable team to deliver an open-source scoring engine that meets every requirement of the Cardano Use Cases: Prototype & Launch category.