Context
India’s agricultural sector reached a major milestone in environmental governance with the rollout of the country’s first digital Soil Carbon Payments to smallholder farmers in Punjab and Haryana.
About Soil Carbon Payments
- Soil carbon payments provide farmers with an additional income for adopting farming practices that contribute to soil carbon enhancement and greenhouse-gas reduction.
- The payments are part of ‘Aadi’, a farmer carbon programme launched by Grow Indigo in 2019 with technical guidance from Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
- Farmers adopted practices such as Direct Seeded Rice (DSR), reduced tillage and crop-residue management.
- The resulting changes in greenhouse-gas emissions and soil carbon were measured and independently verified before carbon credits were issued.
- Agricultural carbon credits were issued under the Verra VM0042 methodology. Farmers receive a share of the revenue generated from credits linked to their fields.
How Does the Carbon Payment Work?
- The payments followed a multi-year process of measurement and independent verification.
- Farmers were paid according to their share of 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.
- Farmers could choose between an assured upfront payment and 75 per cent of the net carbon revenue after the credits were sold.
| Measurement → Verification → Carbon Credits → Farmer Payments |
Key Significance
- Water Saved: ~45 billion liters of irrigation water.
- Residue Diverted: Over 200,000 tonnes of crop residue kept out of open fires.
- Emissions Avoided: Estimated reduction of 1,000 tonnes of PM2.5 emissions.
- Stubble Burning Reduction: Punjab recorded 5,114 farm-fire incidents in the 2025 paddy season- a ~93% drop compared to 2021.
- Local Model Success: The Ransinh Kalan village model in Moga district achieved 100% residue-burning-free status across 1,310 acres for six consecutive years.
Global Alignment & Multilateral Cooperation
- BRICS Cooperation: Under India’s chairship (16th BRICS Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting, Indore, June 2026), BRICS member nations agreed to set up the BRICS Network of Centres of Excellence on Agroecology and Regenerative Agriculture for Climate Resilience and Productivity.
- Nodal Agency: Initial coordination is anchored by the ICAR–Indian Institute of Farming System Research (IIFSR), Modipuram.
- Policy Integration: Reaffirmed in the BRICS New Delhi Declaration (September 2026) to scale climate-resilient agro-ecosystems globally.
Conclusion
The project linkssustainable farming practices, scientific carbon measurement and direct financial benefits for farmers.
| Important CTC from this article for UPSC Soil Carbon PaymentsICAR‘Aadi’, a Grow Indigo farmer carbon programme |