National News

Soil Carbon Payments for Farmers

September 20 , 2026 5 hrs 0 min 20 0

India began its first direct benefit transfer payments for soil carbon credits to over 2,500 farmers in Punjab and Haryana.
The payments totalled over ₹2.9 crore and were linked to verified carbon credits from regenerative farming.
Farmers used Direct Seeded Rice, reduced tillage and crop-residue management during 2019–2022.
The Aadi farmer carbon programme was launched in 2019 by Grow Indigo with technical guidance from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
The programme covers over 2 million acres and 1 lakh+ farmers across seven states.
Farmers received about ₹3,000–₹15,000, while the programme also saved an estimated 45 billion litres of water and avoided over 2 lakh tonnes of crop-residue burning.