BLURB
More than Rs 2.9 crore will reach 2,550 small farmers in Punjab and Haryana through digital soil carbon payments for regenerative farming practices.
NEW DELHI
More than Rs 2.9 crore will be distributed to 2,550 small farmers in Punjab and Haryana through digital soil carbon payments for adopting regenerative farming practices, the Agriculture Ministry said.
The first payments were released at an event at Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana. Dr ML Jat, Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education and Director General, ICAR, initiated the Direct Benefit Transfer to farmers.
The first issuance covered around 30,000 acres and more than 50,000 carbon credits, with farmers receiving approximately Rs 3,000 to Rs 15,000 each. The payments are part of the ‘Aadi’ farmer carbon programme launched by Grow Indigo in 2019 with technical guidance from ICAR.
Under the programme, farmers adopted practices including Direct Seeded Rice, reduced tillage and crop residue management between 2019 and 2022. 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. It has issued agricultural carbon credits using the Verra VM0042 methodology.
ICAR institutions supported the programme through greenhouse-gas accounting, crop-simulation modelling, soil sampling, device validation, field-team training and satellite and remote-sensing methods.
Dr Jat said climate-smart farming backed by scientific assessment and verification could create additional income opportunities for small farmers while supporting water conservation and improved air quality.
The programme estimates that enrolled fields saved 45 billion litres of water and kept more than two lakh tonnes of crop residue out of fires, avoiding an estimated 1,000 tonnes of PM2.5 emissions.
Farmers receive payments based on their share of carbon credits generated from their fields, with Grow Indigo releasing payments digitally from its own funds before the credits were fully sold.
Soil Carbon: Statistics