The main goal of Rize is to further develop sustainable rice farming, which accounts for more than 10% of global methane output.
Rize, an agritech firm, has just clinched USD$14 million in Series A funding. The funding will go towards boosting their tech platforms in order to enhance sustainable rice farming.
Rize is basically revolutionising how we approach rice cultivation – a staple that feeds billions but also poses significant environmental challenges.
With backers like Breakthrough Energy Ventures, GenZero, Temasek, and Wavemaker Impact, Rize is poised to expand its innovative technology stack, including the crucial Measuring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) technology, deeper into Indonesia, Vietnam, and other key regions.
Dhruv Sawhney, CEO of Rize, lays it out nicely: rice farming is responsible for 10% of global methane emissions.
Rice paddies are traditionally methane hotspots, thanks to time-worn flooding practices that cut off oxygen and make bacteria thrive. Rize is therefore championing techniques like Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) and Direct Seeding Rice (DSR), which drastically cut water usage and methane emissions without compromising the harvest.
What’s more, Rize’s technology empowers agronomists to gather precise data, enhancing farm performance metrics and crop yields.
This data will help smallholder farmers approach the season, ensuring they’re not left vulnerable to the vagaries of climate and market fluctuations.
With the fresh infusion of funds, Rize is set to bolster its team of agronomists to over 100 by the end of 2024, aiming to impact over 20,000 farmers.
This would allow them to scale sustainable practices across the rice belts of South and Southeast Asia, turning a new leaf in the book of agrarian sustainability.
This season alone, Rize is set to transform over 7,000 hectares of rice farming. The expected outcomes are slashing emissions by 50%, reducing water use by 20%, and boosting farmer incomes by up to 30%.
Sustainable rice farming, once a lofty ideal, is now a tangible, viable reality.
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