Google has agreed to buy 1 million carbon credits from Indian startup Mitti Labs, supporting methane-reducing rice farming practices. The four-year deal covers Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) across over 100,000 hectares in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, involving more than 70,000 farmers. AWD can cut methane emissions by about 50% and irrigation water use by nearly 40% without reducing yields, according to Mitti Labs. This is the largest publicly announced purchase of rice methane credits to date, supporting Google's net-zero by 2030 goal. The project targets a 3 million tonne reduction in near-term warming impact under GWP20, equivalent to 1 million tonnes under GWP100. Mitti Labs says its projects have saved over 500 billion litres of water in the past two years. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal highlights growing corporate demand for agricultural methane credits with measurable climate and water co-benefits.
