The more than 100 million small farmers in India face an ageold problem: their crops and livelihood are dependent on the vagaries of the weather. But in these times of climate change, that’s even more of a potentially catastrophic problem than perhaps ever before. Wouldn’t it be great if such farmers could have a weather-proof way to grow their crops? That’s the mission of the co-founders of Kheyti, a one-year-old startup in Hyderabad, India, that sells modular greenhouses to small farmers who have .2 to 2 hectares of land. The social enterprise just won $10,000 in the CommonBond Social Impact Award in New York City. CommonBond itself is a social enterprise that helps students and graduates get and refinance more affordable loans. The 2,500-square-foot modular greenhouses allow farmers to control temperature, humidity and pests. They also come with seeds, an irrigation system and ongoing advice. In addition, a local bank created a special loan with which farmers can finance the total $2,800 cost; they have to pay $280 upfront, which, according to co-founder Saumyashe only has one nameis less than, say, a cow or tractor. Many farmers own livestock to supplement their precarious income. (That 100 million small farmers figures comes from Saumya). By their sixth year of setting up a greenhouse, Saumya estimates growers will be able to make about $100 a month in income; that’s how much they generally generate in a good year of traditional farming. The greenhouses have other benefits as well. For example, they require 80% to 90% less water than farmers typically use now. The crops include tomatoes, cucumbers and other vegetables which have growing cycles of 60-90 daysa big improvement over the one-to-two year season for such traditional crops as rice and maize, according to Saumya. Also, the greenhouses are built on only 1%-2% of farmers’ land, so they can still keep on growing their traditional product. The five co-founders have backgrounds in small farmer development, technology aimed at people at the bottom of the pyramid and startups focusing on vocational training and employment. Saumya, for example, previously started a company called Yellow Leaf aimed at helping workers in India who accept assignments in places like Dubai and Singapore, only to be exploited by both their employers and the middlemen who get them there. She closed the business before starting her MBA studies at Kellogg School of Management; somewhat unbelievably, she’s just finishing her first year there, which means she has been attending school while launching Kheyti. So far, funding has come largely from a bevy of pitch competitions and grants from universitiesabout $100,000 in all. The company recently started a pilot with five farmers near Hyderabad; they expect it to take about three months before they can gauge their success. They’re also conducting in-field testing on a farm also by Hyderabad, where they’re growing cucumbers. The harvest has been healthy, according to Saumya.