India’s First Soil Carbon Payments To Farmers
Source: PIB
GS III: Agriculture, Environment and Climate Change
Overview
- The initiative demonstrates a model in which farmers can receive financial returns for adopting practices that generate measurable environmental benefits.
- Carbon payments are linked to a multi-year process of field-level measurement, scientific assessment and independent verification, helping establish the credibility of the environmental outcomes.
- The programme is supported by agricultural universities, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) and State institutions, helping translate sustainable farming methods into practical field-level adoption.
- The experience from Punjab and Haryana provides a foundation for expanding practices such as residue retention, minimum soil disturbance, diversified cropping and efficient water use across farming systems.
Why in the News?
Over 2,500 farmers in Punjab and Haryana are set to receive more than rupees 2.9 crore in soil-carbon payments for adopting regenerative farming practices.
News in Brief
- The payments are part of ‘Aadi’, a Grow Indigo farmer-carbon programme launched in 2019 with technical guidance from ICAR.
- Farmers adopted practices such as Direct Seeded Rice (DSR), reduced tillage and crop-residue management during 2019–2022.
- 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 1 lakh farmers across seven states and has issued agricultural carbon credits under the Verra VM0042 methodology.
How do soil-carbon payments work?
- The initiative links farm-level sustainable practices with carbon credits and additional income for farmers.
- Farmers adopt practices that can reduce greenhouse-gas emissions or increase soil carbon.
- These outcomes are then measured and independently verified before carbon credits are issued.
- The first issuance covered around 30,000 acres and more than 50,000 carbon credits, with participating farmers receiving about rupees 3,000-15,000.
- Grow Indigo made the payments from its own funds before the credits were fully sold.
- Farmers could either opt for an assured upfront payment or receive 75% of the net carbon revenue after the sale of credits.
Economic and Environmental benefits
- The initiative seeks to make sustainable farming economically attractive by providing farmers with an additional income stream.
- Enrolled fields recorded an estimated 45 billion litres of water savings during 2019-2022.
- More than 2 lakh tonnes of crop residue were kept out of fires.
- This helped avoid an estimated 1,000 tonnes of PM 2.5 emissions.
- Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) can residue irrigation requirements compared with conventional transplanting.
- Improved crop-residue management can help reduce stubble burning and air pollution.
- Thus, the initiative brings together famer income, water conservation, soil health, residue management and climate action.
Role of ICAR
- ICAR has provided the scientific foundation for the programme.
- Its institutions have contributed to greenhouse-gas accounting, crop-simulation modelling, soil-sampling methods, device validation, field-team training, satellite-based assessment and remote sensing.
- The ICAR–Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, has contributed to these activities.
- Grow Indigo is also working with ICAR–Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute (ATARI), Zone 1, to promote regenerative agriculture.
- The initiative therefore reflects ICAR’s Lab-to-Land approach, in which agricultural research and scientific methods are taken from research institutions to farmers through ICAR institutions, agricultural universities, KVKs and State agencies.
Regenerative Agriculture
- The programme is part of a wider effort to promote regenerative and climate-resilient farming in Punjab and Haryana.
- Key Practices include,
- Direct Seeded Rice (DSR)
- Minimum soil disturbance
- Crop-residue retention
- Reduced tillage
- Diversified cropping
- Efficient water use
- Improvement of soil biology
- Better crop-residue management
- These practices aim to maintain agricultural productivity while improving soil health, resource efficiency and climate resilience.
Decline in farm fires
- Punjab recorded 5,114 farm-fire incidents during the 2025 paddy harvesting season, the lowest number since monitoring under the present framework began.
- This represented a 93% decline from 2021 and a 90% decline from 2022.
- The Ransinh Kalan model in Moga provides another example of sustained residue management.
- The village remained free from residue burning across 1,310 acres for six consecutive years.
International cooperation
- India is also seeking to promote regenerative agriculture through international cooperation.
- At the 16th BRICS Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting in Indore in June 2026, members agreed to establish a BRICS Network of Centres of Excellence on Agroecology and Regenerative Agriculture for Climate Resilience and Productivity.
- The initial coordination of the network is to be undertaken by ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming System Research (IIFSR), Modipuram.
- The BRICS New Delhi Declaration, adopted in September 2026, subsequently welcomed the strengthening of cooperation through this network.
Soil Carbon and Carbon Credits
- Soil carbon refers to carbon stored in soil, particularly through soil organic matter, plant residues and roots.
- Farming practices that improve soil organic matter can contribute to better soil quality and increased carbon storage.
- Carbon credits are generated when quantified greenhouse-gas reductions or carbon removals are recognized under a specific carbon-crediting framework.
- In the present initiative, changes in greenhouse-gas emissions and soil carbon were measured and independently verified before carbon credits were issued.
- For such systems to work effectively, reliable measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) is important so that the environmental benefits claimed from agricultural practices can be properly established.
Significance for India
- The initiative brings together three important dimensions of agricultural transformation:
- Farmer-centric agricultural research that responds to field-level callenges.
- ICAR’s Lab-to-Land approach, connecting scientific research with farming practices.
- International cooperation to share and expand sustainable agricultural practices.
- More broadly, the initiative shows how environmental outcomes in agriculture can be linked with economic incentives for farmers, while also supporting resource conservation, climate resilience and sustainable agricultural production.
Conclusion
India’s first soil-carbon payments mark an important step towards making sustainable agriculture economically rewarding for farmers. By linking regenerative farming practices with scientifically verified carbon outcomes, the initiative can support soil health, water conservation, reduction in crop-residue burning and climate resilience.
Going forward, strengthening scientific verification and expanding such farmer-centric models can help integrate agricultural productivity with environmental sustainability.
UPSC Prelims and Mains Practice Question
Consider the following statements regarding India’s first soil-carbon payments to farmers:
- The ‘Aadi’ farmer-carbon programme was launched by Grow Indigo in 2019 with technical guidance from ICAR.
- Farmers under the programme adopted practices including Direct Seeded Rice, reduced tillage and crop-residue management.
- The programme covers farmers only in Punjab and Haryana.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only
Mains Practice Question
Q) Carbon farming can potentially align environmental sustainability with farmers’ economic interests. Discuss the opportunities and challenges involved in developing carbon-credit-based incentives for Indian agriculture. (250 Words)
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