Mitti Labs Climate-Smart Rice dMRV

Mitti Labs is a climate-tech startup launched in 2023 by founders from Mumbai, Barcelona and the US Northeast, working with tens of thousands of rice farmers in India. It aims to cut methane from flooded rice paddies and save freshwater by helping smallholders adopt alternate wetting and drying (AWD), while sharing carbon-credit revenue with farmers.

Its dMRV platform builds digital twins of rice fields. High-resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery, processed by AI models calibrated for rice, assesses project areas and monitors practice adoption field by field in near real time. Biogeochemical models then quantify methane, water use and yield, calibrated with in-field gas chambers, flux towers, gas chromatographs and flow meters. The workflow (assess, monitor, measure) produces carbon credits for corporate buyers such as Google and project data for partners and investors.

• SAR satellite monitoring: high-resolution radar imagery that sees through clouds over rice paddies.
• Rice-specific AI: models that detect flooding, drying and practice adoption field by field.
• Project assessment: analysis of historical practices, soil and water availability to select project sites.
• Biogeochemical modelling: quantifies methane, water use and yield as digital twins of fields.
• In-field measurement: gas chambers, flux towers and gas chromatographs validate model outputs.
• Carbon credit issuance: Tier 3 dMRV supporting credits sold to buyers such as Google.

• Rice exporters and cooperatives in the Mekong Delta verifying AWD adoption in low-emission rice areas.
• Agribusinesses developing rice carbon credit projects with farmers and selling credits to international buyers.
• Development programs and provincial agencies monitoring water savings and methane reduction across large rice areas.

• Field-level, near real-time verification of AWD adoption without manual inspection of every plot.
• Credible emission reductions measured with a Tier 3 methodology certified by Gold Standard and validated against in-field data.
• New carbon-credit income for rice farmers and project partners, alongside water savings.
• High-quality credits for corporate buyers; Sylvera rated its AWD projects A with low risk of over-crediting.

Rice paddies are a major source of agricultural methane, and alternate wetting and drying is one of the most cost-effective ways to cut it while saving water. Demand for high-integrity rice carbon credits is growing among technology and food companies, and rice-producing countries in Asia, including Vietnam with its large low-emission rice program in the Mekong Delta, need scalable digital MRV to verify results.

Launched in 2023 and backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners; announced a 9.5 million USD raise in August 2026. Its rice methane methodology holds Tier 3 certification from Gold Standard, and Sylvera rated its AWD projects A. Google agreed to buy one million methane credits in September 2026.