The initiative to provide carbon credits to farmers in eight states is a groundbreaking effort to promote sustainable agriculture
Soon, Farmers in eight states will be financially rewarded for adopting sustainable agricultural practices, such as low tillage, direct-seeded rice (DSR), nitrogen management, and crop residue management.
The initiative to provide carbon credits to farmers is actually limited to eight specific states in India: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.
This program aims to incentivize environmentally friendly farming and help farmers earn additional income through carbon credits.
The private company involved in this particular carbon credit program for farmers is Grow Indigo. It's a joint venture between Mahyco, an Indian seed company, and Indigo Ag, a US-based agriculture technology company. Grow Indigo is responsible for enrolling farmers, managing carbon credit projects, and ensuring that the credits are generated and sold according to the Verra certification standards.
How It Works
Farmers will be rewarded for adopting sustainable practices such as low tillage, direct-seeded rice (DSR), nitrogen management, and crop residue management. These practices help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve soil health.Financial Rewards: The carbon credits earned by farmers can be sold to industries, such as aviation, mining, and fertilizer manufacturing, which need to offset their carbon footprints. Approximately 75% of the revenue from the sale of carbon credits will flow back to the farmers.
Third-Party Audit: The carbon credits are certified by Verra, a global voluntary greenhouse gas reduction program, ensuring that the credits are legitimate and verifiable.
Based on the certification by Verra, the carbon credits will be awarded to farmers in the next couple of months. This certification ensures that the carbon credits are legitimate and verifiable, providing farmers with a reliable way to earn additional income through sustainable agricultural practices
Impact: The program aims to benefit small and marginal farmers by providing them with an additional source of income while promoting environmentally friendly farming practices.
Grow Indigo has enrolled 80,000 farmers in Haryana, Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana covering diverse crops in over 40,000 hectare in various carbon programme.
This initiative is a significant step towards making agriculture more sustainable and helping farmers earn extra income through carbon credits.
To recall, earlier this month IndianWeb2 reported that India is gearing up for its first carbon credit sale, with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) playing a crucial role.
In July this year, the Agriculture Ministry has developed the framework for promoting the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) in the agricultural sector to encourage small and marginal farmers to get carbon credit benefits.Introducing carbon markets to farmers can accelerate the acceptance of eco-friendly agriculture practices while enhancing their income.
Bureau of Energy Efficiency (under the Ministry of Power) is also involved in developing the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme.
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