Indian Economy News

India’s First Soil Carbon Payments Put Farmers at the Centre of Regenerative Agriculture

India’s agricultural carbon market has moved towards farm-level implementation, with more than 2,500 smallholder farmers in Punjab and Haryana have received digital payments for adopting regenerative farming practices. The first payments were released at a programme organised at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, marking a link between sustainable agricultural practices and additional income for farmers. Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Dr. M. L. Jat, initiated Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) payments to 2,550 farmers. The payments are part of ‘Aadi’, a Grow Indigo farmer carbon programme launched in 2019 with technical guidance from ICAR. Farmers adopted practices including Direct Seeded Rice (DSR), reduced tillage and crop residue management between 2019 and 2022. The resulting greenhouse gas reductions and increases in soil carbon were measured and independently verified before carbon credits were issued.

The programme covers more than two million acres and over 100,000 farmers across seven states and has issued agricultural carbon credits under the Verra VM0042 methodology. The first issuance covered around 30,000 acres and more than 50,000 carbon credits, with participating farmers receiving approximately Rs. 3,000-15,000 (US$ 31.79-158.93) based on their share of the carbon credits generated from their fields. Grow Indigo released the payments digitally from its own funds before the credits were fully sold, allowing farmers to receive payments without waiting for sale proceeds. The programme estimates that practices adopted during 2019-2022 helped save 45 billion litres of water and keep more than two lakh tonnes of crop residue out of fires, avoiding an estimated 1,000 tonnes of PM2.5 emissions. The initiative combines scientific measurement, carbon credits and farmer incentives to support regenerative agriculture, resource conservation and climate-resilient farming.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.