First Soil Carbon Payments Reach 2,550 Farmers in Punjab and Haryana

India's agricultural carbon market has reached the farm gate, with the first soil carbon payments disbursed to 2,550 smallholder farmers in Punjab and Haryana. The Direct Benefit Transfer was initiated at a programme held at Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana by Dr M. L. Jat, Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education and Director General of ICAR.

The payments flow from 'Aadi', a farmer carbon programme launched by Grow Indigo in 2019 with technical guidance from ICAR. Participating farmers adopted Direct Seeded Rice, reduced tillage and crop residue management between 2019 and 2022. The greenhouse-gas reductions and soil carbon gains from these practices were measured and independently verified before carbon credits were issued under the Verra VM0042 methodology.

The programme now spans more than two million acres and over 100,000 farmers across seven states. Its first issuance covered around 30,000 acres and more than 50,000 carbon credits, with participating farmers receiving roughly ₹3,000 to ₹15,000 each, based on their share of the credits generated from their fields. Grow Indigo released the payments from its own funds before the credits were fully sold, so farmers did not have to wait for sale proceeds. Farmers could choose between an assured upfront payment and 75 per cent of net carbon revenue after the credits were sold.

ICAR institutions contributed scientific and field expertise, including greenhouse-gas accounting, crop-simulation modelling, soil-sampling protocols, device validation, field-team training and satellite and remote-sensing approaches. ICAR–Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, was among the contributors, and Grow Indigo is also working with ICAR–Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute, Zone 1, to promote regenerative agriculture.

Dr Jat said the initiative shows how climate-smart farming practices backed by scientific assessment and rigorous verification can create additional income for smallholder farmers while supporting water conservation and improved air quality. He congratulated the participating farmers and acknowledged the contribution of ICAR institutions to the scientific framework.

Dr Usha Barwale Zehr, Executive Director of Grow Indigo, described the payment as the first instance in India of farmers being paid for carbon stored in their soil, and acknowledged the trust and patience of farmers through the assessment and verification process. Farmers Harinderjeet Gill of Nurpur Bet in Ludhiana and Amandeep Kaur of Sangrur shared their experiences, pointing to the economic and environmental benefits of continuing regenerative practices and avoiding crop-residue burning.

The environmental gains are significant. For enrolled fields during 2019–2022, the programme estimates savings of 45 billion litres of water and more than two lakh tonnes of crop residue kept out of fires, avoiding an estimated 1,000 tonnes of PM2.5 emissions. Direct Seeded Rice can reduce irrigation requirements compared with conventional transplanting, while better residue management can help curb stubble burning and associated air pollution.

Punjab has also recorded a sharp decline in farm-fire incidents. Government data shows 5,114 farm-fire incidents during the 2025 paddy harvesting season, the lowest since monitoring under the present framework began — a 93 per cent reduction compared with 2021 and 90 per cent compared with 2022. The Ransinh Kalan model in Moga, where a village maintained a 100 per cent residue-burning-free status across 1,310 acres for six consecutive years, further demonstrates the potential of sustained residue-management efforts.

Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan has emphasised farmer-centric agricultural research and field-level adoption of sustainable technologies during his visits to Punjab under the Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan. During his June 2025 visit, he interacted with farmers and reviewed farming practices as part of the campaign, highlighting the importance of direct-seeded rice and residue-management practices.

The initiative also has an international dimension. The 16th BRICS Agriculture Ministers' Meeting, held in Indore in June 2026 under India's chairship, agreed to establish a BRICS Network of Centres of Excellence on Agroecology and Regenerative Agriculture for Climate Resilience and Productivity, with initial coordination by ICAR–Indian Institute of Farming System Research, Modipuram. The BRICS New Delhi Declaration, adopted in September 2026, welcomed the strengthening of cooperation through this network.

Farmers who joined the programme after 2022 are part of the next monitoring cycle and will receive payments as their carbon credits are issued. The Ludhiana disbursement brings together farmer-centric field research, ICAR's Lab-to-Land approach through its institutions, ATARIs and Krishi Vigyan Kendras, and international cooperation to scale sustainable practices — connecting scientifically measured environmental outcomes with economic incentives for farmers.