In the world of specialty crops, the conversation around water has long been dominated by the urgent need for volume, with many farmers wondering if they will have enough supply to simply get through the season. However, Kilimo CEO Jairo Trad points to a more insidious threat mounting in the global supply chain. While drought remains a visible crisis, water quality — specifically the degradation caused by overfertilization and runoff — is emerging as a significant risk that many producers have yet to fully quantify.
Founded in Córdoba, Argentina, in 2014, Kilimo was born from Trad’s observations of how weather volatility could decide the fate of a family farm. Today, the climate-tech company uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze satellite imagery and meteorological data, helping farmers across seven countries, including U.S. and Chile, reduce water use by up to 30%. As the company expands its footprint in high-stakes regions like California’s San Joaquin Valley, the focus is shifting toward a more holistic view of water stewardship.
The Quality Blind Spot
For high-value crops like almonds, berries and citrus, the chemistry of the water is just as vital as the volume. Poor water quality doesn’t just impact immediate yields; it creates a compounding cycle of soil degradation and increased costs. Trad notes that this is particularly dangerous in specialty crop regions where production is concentrated. When water courses become polluted, the farming activity itself begins to worsen the very conditions required for future harvests.
“Water pollution and overfertilization lead to significant problems for farmers down the line,” Trad says. “In specialty crops, there is not enough data and not enough conversation around the water quality that farmers are using and how the same farming activity keeps worsening those water conditions.”
This creates a feedback loop that threatens the sustainability of the land in the most literal sense: the ability to sustain production over the long term. If the water quality isn’t high enough for the crops, the entire economic model of the farm begins to crumble, Trad says.
Data as the New Inheritance
Kilimo is tackling this vulnerability by moving beyond simple irrigation schedules. Its platform acts as a bridge between traditional agricultural wisdom and modern climate demands. By layering water balance modeling and local climate data, it can show growers in real time the exact difference between what a crop demands and what is actually being applied.
This data-first approach does more than just save acre-feet; it reduces the need for excess pumping and helps mitigate the overapplication of fertilizers that leads to water pollution. For Trad, this technology is a way to protect the “grandfather’s wisdom” that has guided farms for decades.
“Data can become a new kind of inheritance — a tool that doesn’t replace wisdom but helps it weather a changing climate,” Trad says. “Agriculture isn’t merely the sector most exposed to water risk; it’s our strongest partner for rebuilding the commons.”
Rewarding Stewardship Through Water Credits
To bridge the financial gap, Kilimo has pioneered a first-of-its-kind water-credit marketplace. In this model, verified water savings are treated similarly to carbon credits. Global companies like Microsoft, Google and Coca-Cola — seeking to meet water-positive pledges — invest in these credits, effectively paying farmers for the water they conserve.
This mechanism ensures that the cost of protecting water quality and quantity isn’t shouldered by the farmer alone. It transforms water conservation from a regulatory burden into a verifiable asset. As Trad puts it: “Water for agriculture is essentially free … so [farmers] have very little reason to be mindful of water beyond their own ideas that they should conserve it. The challenge is to give value to water.”
A Shared Future
As climate pressures mount, the industry must recognize that specialty crops are essentially “solar panels that function on water.” If the water fueling them is compromised, either by scarcity or by pollution, the entire system fails. By prioritizing water data today, specialty crop growers can transform a hidden risk into a verified competitive advantage.
The goal is to build a system where the health of the resources is as measurable as the harvest itself. In Trad’s view, this is the only way forward.
“Technology helps, but it doesn’t lead,” Trad says. “Farmers lead. We bring the tools; they bring the wisdom. That’s the only way this works.”
