India Makes First Farm-Level Soil Carbon Payments to 2,550 Smallholder Farmers

21 September 2026National

India made its first farm-level soil carbon payments to 2,550 smallholder farmers in Punjab and Haryana, with the event held at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana. The payments fall under 'Aadi', a farmer carbon programme launched by Grow Indigo in 2019. Participating farmers adopted regenerative practices such as Direct Seeded Rice (DSR), reduced tillage and crop-residue management instead of stubble burning. The first issuance covered about 30,000 acres and generated over 50,000 verified carbon credits, with individual farmers receiving roughly Rs 3,000 to Rs 15,000 depending on their share. It links India's carbon-market push under the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme to on-farm climate action and Delhi-NCR stubble-burning mitigation.

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Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, established 1962 | India's Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS) was notified in 2023 under the Energy Conservation Act | Punjab capital: Chandigarh (shared with Haryana)

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