Google has agreed to purchase 1 million carbon credits from Indian climate-tech startup Mitti Labs through 2030, marking the largest publicly announced deal of its kind for rice-methane reduction.
The four-year agreement will support rice farms in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, with the project expected to reach about 100,000 hectares at peak delivery. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The initiative rewards farmers for adopting methods that keep fields flooded for shorter periods. According to Mitti Labs, this approach can cut methane emissions by around 50% and reduce irrigation water use by about 40%, while maintaining crop yields.
Founded in 2023 and based in New York and Bengaluru, Mitti Labs uses a GeoAI platform that combines satellite radar imagery with field measurements to monitor crop growth, soil moisture, and flooding across smallholder farms. The company says its projects have already saved more than 500 billion liters of water over the past two years.
Google's interest in the project also reflects its broader climate strategy as it works toward net-zero emissions by 2030. The company said the deal followed detailed evaluation of Mitti Labs' monitoring system and farm-level verification.
Mitti Labs currently works with more than 100,000 farmers and plans to expand into the Philippines later this year, followed by Indonesia and other Southeast Asian markets in 2027. The startup says most of its project revenue goes back to farming communities.
As climate-tech tools, satellite analytics, and agriculture converge, this model could help shape a more scalable future for sustainable farming.
