Climate-tech startup Sow&Reap Agro has been granted more than 37,000 carbon credits by global certification body Gold Standard for a paddy cultivation programme it spearheaded in Telangana using Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) method to cut down on methane emissions.
Spread across eight districts, the sustainable paddy cultivation project VARRI across thousands of acres had AWD method at its heart and leveraged a blockchain-powered Digital Measurement, Reporting and Verification (DMRV) solution of the company, founder and CEO Suraj Teja said.
Sow&Reap Agro has emerged as the first to achieve this milestone. The bootstrapped startup is pursuing atleast six projects across agriculture, forestry and waste to energy domains with a potential to reduce 5 lakh tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, he said in an interaction.
The aim is to generate over 1 million carbon credits through paddy cultivation within the next 2 years, the startup said in a release on grant of 37,405 carbon credits. It had collaborated with Kosher Climate for the programme.
Attributing it to the collective efforts of the farmers, partners, and the Telangana government Agriculture Department, Mr. Teja said “by adopting sustainable agricultural practices and leveraging our blockchain-powered DMRV solution, we are not only reducing greenhouse gas emissions but also creating new income streams for farmers through carbon credits,” and explained that DMRV ensured end-to-end traceability and transparency of the entire process, from field-level data collection to carbon credit issuance.
Sow&Reap said over last three years it partnered with 35,000 farmers in several districts, including Jagitial, Karimnagar, Mahbubnagar, Nagarkurnool, Narayanpet, Peddapalli and Rajanna Sircilla covering nearly 1 lakh acres. While reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the project demonstrated tangible benefits for farmers like increased paddy yields, reduced water consumption, and lower fertiliser usage.
Published – August 11, 2025 07:23 pm IST
