CarbonFarm Raises 7 Million Euros to Make Methane Reduction in Rice Fields Measurable and Fundable

CarbonFarm announced a 7 million euro Series A round to develop its decarbonization programs for rice. The funding will strengthen its technology and project development capabilities. The startup aims to make methane reductions from rice paddies both measurable and financable. CarbonFarm plans to deploy water-saving practices among small farms across 19 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. The approach combines satellite monitoring, ground data and modeling to document practices and quantify emissions. In a rice field, continuous flooding creates oxygen-poor conditions that foster methane-producing microbes. Controlled drying periods can interrupt this process. While simple in concept, scaling it requires agricultural organization, financing and verifiable proof. CarbonFarm seeks to link these three dimensions for rice value chains. The company supports actors in designing, financing and tracking emission-reduction programs. The round will reinforce its technology and development capacity. Methane has a global warming potential about 80 times higher than carbon dioxide over twenty years at equal mass. Its atmospheric lifetime is roughly a decade. Reducing methane emissions can therefore slow warming more quickly than carbon dioxide reductions, which have longer-lasting effects according to the United Nations Environment Programme. Rice cultivation represents a significant source of this gas. Rice feeds about half of the world population, so improving its footprint must remain compatible with maintaining yields and farmer incomes.

Alternate Wetting and Drying or AWD meets this dual constraint. The International Rice Research Institute documents about 30 percent water savings and 30 to 70 percent methane reductions under AWD depending on conditions. A 2026 scientific synthesis of 91 meta-analyses found an average 50 percent methane reduction across water-saving technologies, accompanied by a slight 3 percent yield decline. Intermittent irrigation offers a better balance than completely non-flooded systems. Soil type, varieties, climate and fertilizer practices must be considered when designing programs, and other greenhouse gases like nitrous oxide must also be accounted for. Saving water requires precise irrigation timing. AWD benefits extend beyond carbon, as reduced water inputs can lower pressure on resources and irrigation costs. However farmers must be able to reintroduce water when crops need it. Trials in Bangladesh showed lower water consumption and higher profits when farmers paid based on actual consumption, effects not seen with flat seasonal fees. For a farmer, collective climate benefits must translate into concrete offers: maintaining harvests, controlling costs and potentially receiving additional income. Carbon financing can help meet this equation if remuneration and timelines are clear. CarbonFarm prioritizes partnerships with producers, cooperatives, agri-food companies, NGOs, governments and local developers. These organizations support farmers while CarbonFarm provides project development expertise, monitoring tools and access to financing and buyers.

"Scale-up will not come from replacing local chain actors; it will come from the means we give them," said Vassily Carantino, cofounder and chief executive officer of CarbonFarm. "They understand agricultural systems and have the necessary relationships to evolve practices." This organization will mobilize existing networks to expand activity. Program quality depends on training, agronomic follow-up and partner execution on the ground. Satellites observe practices while models estimate emissions. The system combines artificial intelligence analysis of satellite images, ground data collection and greenhouse gas modeling. It tracks practices at the parcel level and quantifies their climate consequences. This chain belongs to the MRV framework: measurement, reporting and verification. The distinction matters because satellites provide information on water management while models estimate emissions using multiple data types. A collaboration with Regrow Ag links CarbonFarm's remote sensing with the DNDC biogeochemical model. This allows documentation of dispersed parcels while reducing reliance on manual reporting and systematic site visits. The claimed high integrity responds to a specific sector context. In August 2024 Verra rejected 37 Chinese rice projects, not

Reported by FrenchWeb.