A research team at a startup is using computer modelling to work out the best advice for farmers in India to increase their rice crop while reducing inputs and emissions.
Rice accounts for about 8 percent of all agricultural greenhouse emissions as of 2023 and about 24 to 30 percent of the entire world’s developed fresh water resources.
Ishan Ajmera, a researcher and modelling expert at US-based startup Mitti Labs, says that to mitigate emissions, farmers need to find the right mix of water use, nitrogen use, and sowing practices.
“For this, field studies are imperative but challenging due to variations across rice fields and agroecologies: that’s why remote sensing and modelling tools become helpful at efficiently assessing large areas without extensive field data and individual practices at field scales within a landscape,” he says, “These tools, validated with field data, can help design site-specific plans to minimize GHGs and water use while maintaining rice yields.”
Ajmera explains a major aspect of this work involves collecting field data, such as soil properties, management practices and the different stages of crop growth that will inform the model and ensure the output accurately reflects the region’s unique variations.
“By incorporating temporal remote sensing imagery of our project sites, these calibrated models transform into powerful tools for monitoring, reporting, and validating the impact of different field interventions on GHG emissions – from individual fields to regional scales,” he says, adding that the biggest challenge in the project was in processing power.
“Simulating a dense rice root system with OpenSimRoot, demands massive memory (>10GB) and lengthy times (10+ computing days for 30-day simulations),” he says, “This issue was particularly unprecedented as other crops have relatively simpler root system than rice.”
Now, Ajmera explains, the startup is helping train farmers in new agricultural techniques reduce the water and methane intensity of traditional rice farming, helping farmers adapt to a changing climate and earn an additional revenue stream through carbon credits.
“Our first five projects launched this season will cover 30,000 hectares and will deliver an annual reduction of 120,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions,” he says.
Growing Up In India
Ajmera was raised in suburban Mumbai, India and explains that his inspiration came during a bioinformatics lecture in my sixth undergraduate semester.
“I got acquainted to the concept of systems biology and modelling: it deeply enchanted me!” he says “I was particularly drawn to the integrative and predictive nature of the systems approach, where mathematical and computational techniques are implemented to define and understand biological concepts.”
Ajmera explains that a crucial gap exists in Global South science: limited collaboration between academia and industry in the Global South hinders translating research into real-world applications.
“Bridging this gap is essential to maximizing the economic impact of science, wherein the high- income economics, business ventures and research institution of the Global North can play a significant role,” he says, “Beyond immediate solutions, scientific research is playing a vital role in building educational and research capacities in Global South countries, contributing to long- term sustainable development of the region.”
Ajmera explains that he feels as scientist from the Global South he’s leveraged training and access to advanced technologies at top northern institutions to tackle global challenges, like food security and climate change.
“Now, I’m back in the South applying my knowledge and experience at a leading agritech start-up to develop an exciting solution that directly benefits my community,” he says, “This global-to-local knowledge exchange is a great example of how to foster impactful innovation.”
Climate Smart Rice
Elsewhere in South Asia, Asif Ishtiaque, a researcher originally from Bangladesh has been looking at farms there to determine why agricultural practices aimed at reducing carbon emissions haven’t been adopted.
The agricultural sector is estimated to make up about a third of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the World Bank and the number of people suffering acute food insecurity increased from 135 million in 2019 to 345 million in 82 countries by June 2022.
Ishtiaque, an assistant professor at Missouri State University, says that climate-smart agriculture is a suite of agricultural practices and technologies designed to address the challenges posed by climate change in the agricultural sector, while also promoting sustainability and resilience.
“I observed majority of the farmers are not adopting most climate-smart agriculture practices and technologies, even those technologies were highly recommended by government and non-government agricultural organizations,” he says, adding that Despite the promise of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) to improve food security in South Asia, most CSA practices and technologies have not been widely adopted.
“Previous studies on the adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices and technologies were mostly case-study focused and limited to a specific location, whereas it was important to view this problem as a regional issue,” he says, “This is particularly useful to regions where arable lands are scarce,” he says.