Google Backs Plan to Cut Methane from 100,000 Rice Farms

Google is tackling one of agriculture's biggest climate problems by helping tens of thousands of rice farmers in India change how they water their crops.

The tech giant announced a five-year partnership with deep-tech company Mitti Labs to bring climate-smart irrigation to 100,000 hectares of smallholder rice farms across India. More than 70,000 farmers will learn new water management practices that cut methane emissions in half while using 40% less water.

Rice paddies are a surprisingly big source of methane, a greenhouse gas 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term. When rice fields stay continuously flooded under traditional farming methods, they create the perfect conditions for methane-producing bacteria. These paddies account for more than 10% of all human-caused methane emissions worldwide.

The solution is surprisingly simple. By switching to alternate wetting and drying irrigation instead of keeping fields constantly flooded, farmers can dramatically reduce methane while maintaining the same rice yields. Mitti Labs uses advanced satellite radar technology originally developed with NASA support to monitor individual farm plots and provide real-time guidance on soil moisture and crop health.

Kate Brandt, Google's Chief Sustainability Officer, emphasized why this matters now. "Mitti Labs' approach delivers critical near-term atmospheric impact by cutting methane emissions, while conserving billions of gallons of water and empowering smallholder farmers to deploy advanced water-management practices," she said.

The water savings alone are staggering. The project is expected to conserve enough water to supply the entire city of Bengaluru for three years. That's crucial for a country where water scarcity threatens millions of farming families.

The Ripple Effect

This deal represents the largest rice methane carbon credit agreement ever made, with Mitti Labs committing to deliver one million high-integrity credits to Google by 2030. It sets a new standard for how technology companies can invest in agriculture-based climate solutions that benefit both the planet and farming communities.

Because methane breaks down in the atmosphere within about a decade, cutting these emissions offers a direct path to reducing near-term warming. Scientists increasingly view methane reduction as one of the most powerful levers available to slow climate change in the critical years ahead.

The partnership also strengthens the livelihoods of India's 150 million smallholder rice farmers by reducing their water costs and connecting them to carbon credit markets. Mitti Labs' model combines deep community engagement with cutting-edge satellite monitoring, making the program both scientifically rigorous and practical for small-plot farmers.

When farmers win, water supplies stretch further, and the atmosphere cools down, everyone benefits from the ripple.