Tim De Chant is a senior climate reporter at TechCrunch and a lecturer in MIT’s Graduate Program in Science Writing. In his latest reporting, he follows a groundbreaking innovation for cutting methane emissions from growing rice, a beautiful example of the technology-agriculture nexus in action. In fact, rice cultivation contributes roughly 10–12% of total anthropogenic methane emissions. This requires concrete, out-of-the-box solutions to address climate change, increase agricultural efficiency and productivity.
De Chant received her PhD in environmental science, policy, and management from the University of California, Berkeley. With a BA in environmental studies, English, and biology from St. Olaf College, they provide unique perspectives on how these technologies affect smallholder farmers. In 2018, he was awarded the highly competitive Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at MIT, a testament to his remarkable work. Throughout this fellowship, he explored understanding climate technologies and developed exciting new business models for journalism.
Thanks to Matti Carbon for an important step forward. They’re currently building measurement, reporting, and verification software, specifically for enhanced rock weathering. This new kind of agritech uses naturally occurring minerals found throughout farmers’ fields to both create carbon sinks and nourish the soil. Just recently, Matti Carbon took home the coveted Xprize Carbon grand prize. This victory confirms its critical role in our fight against climate change.
Rice farming is unique in the world of agriculture. It’s dependent on flooded fields for most of the year. This strategy not only promotes higher yields of rice, but fosters the anaerobic environment necessary for the production of methane. Consequently, including emissions reductions from rice farming is important to inclusive climate mitigation strategies.
Renowned Senior Fellow Xavier Laguarta, co-founder of Mitti Labs, underscores the urgent importance to understand the economics of rice cultivation in Asia. This region is home to 90% of the world’s rice. He then points out the fact that ninety percent of rice is grown in Asia. Beyond China, the same dynamics with smallholder farmers predominate in most of the world’s rice-growing regions. Smallholder farmers often tend farms that are an average of only one hectare, or roughly 2.5 acres. That small size places their economic viability in jeopardy.
Mitti Labs has been working to improve the profitability of these smallholders. Laguarta claims that participating in their programs typically leads to a 15% increase in farmers’ bottom lines. This increase provides assistance to both the farmers themselves and the overall economic health of these communities.
The collaboration between Mitti Labs and the Nature Conservancy is a great example of working together to create useful tools that can help us all be more sustainable. That’s how Laguarta describes their recent partnership with the Nature Conservancy. As he puts it, “This kind of deep collaboration really allows us to develop intermediary tools that will be useful to thousands of other programs across the region.” This new partnership highlights the importance of joining forces to address the distinct challenges that climate change brings to agriculture.
Furthermore, Laguarta discusses the potential for measuring Scope 3 emissions from other project developers or corporations working with rice farmers. “We can measure Scope 3 emissions from other project developers or corporations that are working with rice farmers,” he explains. Beyond increasing accountability in the agricultural sector, this new capability advances U.S. contributions to global efforts to mitigate carbon footprints.