Meet the startup helping farmers solve the problem

Rice feeds nearly half the world’s population, but the way we grow it leaves a surprisingly high methane footprint.

According to a report by the Global Alliance for Climate and Health, of the 42% of global methane emissions generated by agriculture, 8% come from rice cultivation.

Farmers produce rice by flooding their rice fields, which creates anaerobic conditions in which microorganisms emit methane – a powerful greenhouse gas with a heating capacity 80 times greater than that of CO2 during the first 20 years after its emission.

Methane’s short-term power makes it a major driver of global warming – although it also means that small victories can be achieved quickly if emissions are reduced.

In IndonesiaRize is helping farmers adopt new farming methods that could reduce the region’s emissions while increasing their profits.

“The idea of ​​Rize came because rice, second cattle“This is the biggest emissions problem in agriculture in Southeast Asia,” says Siem Schreurs, the startup’s head of partnerships. “The problem is easier to solve in the case of rice.”

Part of Rize’s strength, Schreurs says, is its willingness to work with smallholders. Farmersleveraging CEO Dhruv Sawney’s past experience with ‘nurture.farm’ (an Indian sustainable farming app that has attracted 1.5 million smallholder farmers to its roster).

“There is a lot of good work being done by NGOs and development agencies trying to help farmers adopt new sustainable “There are many best practices, but adoption rates beyond these programs are generally very low,” Schreurs says.

“We’re really trying to get the right technology to farmers and make sure they adopt it over longer periods of time.”

Why does rice produce so much methane?

Rice is not necessarily a high-emission crop, according to Gabriel Vegh-Gaynor, co-author of the Global Alliance for Climate and Health paper on methane management.

In fact, it all has to do with the flood technique which has crystallized over centuries in rice fields and is used to deter pests and prevent the growth of weeds from depleting soil nutrients.

“It’s a natural process that happens when organic matter decomposes in low-oxygen environments,” Vegh-Gaynor says. “With antigenic organisms, it’s an environment in which they thrive and they will produce methane in these conditions.

The problem is compounded by the scale of rice production. It is estimated that more than 3.5 billion people get 20% of their daily calories from rice, and demand continues to rise.

But cut that off staple food This would hardly be fair. Vegh-Geynor cites the case of Bangladesh, where nearly half of rural jobs come from rice production. “Rice accounts for two-thirds of all calories consumed by people in the country.”

There is no real need to stop the rise in rice prices in the markets, Vegh-Gaynor adds. “If you look at kilocalories per emissions “The unit produced for this feed is extremely efficient,” he says. “It’s one of the most efficient feeds in terms of emissions.”

Rice growth could even be a boon for methane reduction, as new companies emerge to meet the world’s growing appetite.

“The opportunity lies less in the specific scale of production, but more in opening up these new markets and being able to enter them from the start with alternative methods,” says Vegh-Gaynor.

How Rize is reducing the methane problem in rice

Continued flooding can be a laborious process, requiring pumps to replenish water lost to evaporation and thirsty rice plants.

But across Vietnam and Indonesia, Rize is testing a different technique with Farmers called alternate wetting and drying (AWD), where rice fields are allowed to dry out before more fresh water flows in.

Studies have shown that all-wheel drive reduces methane emissions by 50 percent, a figure Rize hopes to improve through further laboratory experiments.

“We can test AWD with one drying event versus AWD with two drying events,” Schreur says. “Or we can add biochar on the ground – what would the effects be?

The results so far are promising, with a 35% drop in recorded emissions, but the real value, according to Schreur, lies in how AWD benefits farmers.

“The root of a plant when you expose it to water stress “For example, if you let rice dry for X days, it grows more because it seeks more water,” he explains. “If you reapply water, there are more roots, which leads to more plant growth and therefore a better yield.”

Pumping less water also means that this higher crop yield is combined with energy and water savings – an attractive business proposition for the smallholder farmers Rize works with.

“It’s basically putting down a pipe and making sure there’s no water in the field for certain periods of time,” Schreur says, “so the adoption rates for these technologies are much higher.”

Rize helps farmers make profits while reducing emissions

According to Schreur, creating a winning financial incentive is key to retaining farmers once they adopt AWD.

Before the season begins, smallholder farmers must purchase essential inputs such as rice seeds, fertilizers and pesticides.

“It can cost up to $600 (€550) per hectare per season,” Schreur says. “They don’t have the cash to pay up front, so they take out a loan with interest rates of up to 10 to 15 percent.”

To solve this financial challenge, Rize purchases these inputs in bulk, meaning the farmer can buy them at a discounted price without additional interest.

A dedicated agronomist – an expert in plant production and soil and pest management – is then assigned to each farm to help with the transition, supervise the installation of pipelines and advise the farmer.

“At the end of the harvest, the farmer will say, ‘Hey, these guys really invested their money in my land. They brought in their employees to work with me through this process,’” Schreur says. “All the implementation for all-wheel drive is on our books.”

To give AWD greater longevity, Rize works with existing networks among farmers.Farmers’ groups “We usually have a long-term relationship with these farmers and these parties have a lot of influence,” says Schreur.

In Vietnam, he explains, farmers are often coordinated by government-appointed agricultural cooperatives, which oversee irrigation for 10 to 100 farms.

Rize organizes onboarding sessions with these cooperatives, during which they share the benefits of the technology. This can take place over several sessions, thus fostering a lasting connection with the community.

“This is an ongoing confidence-building effort on our part,” Schreur says.

How data collection can help rice farmers improve their harvests

According to Vegh-Gaynor, one area of ​​rice production that is particularly promising is data gatheringwhich could help farmers improve their harvest through targeted returns.

“We can get more data on very region-specific methods and what has worked in those contexts, which will help others succeed without some of the challenges of early adopters,” he says.

For Rize, this data helps agronomists, who track growing conditions and water use on each farm.

“We can talk about a technology-based agronomic model,” Schreur explains. “We track all the touchpoints between the agronomist and the farmer. All the data will then be entered into our platform, which will help improve decision-making.”

This data could eventually pave the way for more investment. By demonstrating the success of sustainable farming practices, Rize can present smallholders as a low-risk market.

“There is not a lot of data on smallholder farmers, especially those who are transitioning to another practice,” Schreur says.

“All the data points we collect could be useful for insurance actors or microfinance institutions seeking to deploy capital to small farmers.

Awareness of methane emissions is growing, but supermarket brands need to address them

Rize’s work on the ground is a good start, but it will take more concerted thinking to get to the heart of the rice methane problem.

“We are a small agritech company tackling a big problem,” Schreur says. “We need more muscle from downstream players, like the FMCG companies, the traders and the buyers, the big companies that buy large volumes of rice.”

In 2021, 111 countries signed the Global Commitment on Methanecommitting to reducing their methane emissions by 30% by 2030. This increased awareness is promising, Schreur says, but it needs to influence the brands we see on supermarket shelves.

“There is still a huge demand for low-quality, high-emission rice varieties,” he says. “Much more effort needs to be made to evolve the entire value chain.”