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Punjab, Haryana farmers receive digital payments for regenerative farming
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Saturday, 19 September, 2026, 12 : 00 PM [IST]
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Our Bureau, Mumbai
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India’s agricultural carbon market is moving from policy development to farm-level implementation, with 2,550 smallholder farmers in Punjab and Haryana receiving digital payments for adopting regenerative farming practices.
The first payments were released at a programme held at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, where Dr M. L. Jat, Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Director General, ICAR, initiated Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) payments to participating farmers.
The payments are part of ‘Aadi’, a farmer carbon programme launched by Grow Indigo in 2019 with technical guidance from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Between 2019 and 2022, participating farmers adopted practices including Direct Seeded Rice (DSR), reduced tillage and improved crop-residue management.
The resulting greenhouse-gas reductions and increases in soil carbon were measured and independently verified before carbon credits were issued. The programme currently covers more than two million acres and over 100,000 farmers across seven states, with agricultural carbon credits issued under the Verra VM0042 methodology.
The initiative links regenerative farming practices with an additional income stream for farmers. Grow Indigo said the first issuance covered around 30,000 acres and generated more than 50,000 carbon credits, with participating farmers receiving approximately Rs 3,000–Rs 15,000 based on their share of the 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 the benefit 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.
The programme’s monitoring and verification process has been carried out over several years. Farmers who enrolled after 2022 are part of the next monitoring cycle and will receive payments as their carbon credits are issued.
ICAR institutions have provided scientific and field-level support for the programme, including greenhouse-gas accounting, crop-simulation modelling, soil-sampling protocols, device validation, field-team training, and satellite and remote-sensing applications. ICAR–Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, has contributed to these processes, while Grow Indigo is also working with ICAR–Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute (ATARI), Zone 1, to promote regenerative agriculture.
Dr M. L. Jat said the initiative demonstrates how climate-smart farming practices supported by scientific assessment and independent verification can create additional income opportunities for smallholder farmers while contributing to water conservation and improved air quality.
The environmental benefits associated with the programme include reduced water consumption and improved crop-residue management. According to programme estimates, enrolled fields during 2019–2022 saved 45 billion litres of water. They kept more than two lakh tonnes of crop residue out of fires, avoiding an estimated 1,000 tonnes of PM2.5 emissions.
DSR can reduce irrigation requirements compared with conventional rice transplanting, while improved residue management can help address stubble burning and associated air pollution. The programme forms part of a wider shift towards regenerative agriculture in Punjab and Haryana, encompassing residue retention, minimum soil disturbance, diversified cropping, improved soil biology and efficient water use.
During his engagements with farmers and agricultural institutions in Punjab under the Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan and subsequent visits, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan has emphasised farmer-centric agricultural research and field-level adoption of sustainable technologies, including DSR and crop-residue management. During his June 2025 visit to the state, he interacted with farmers and reviewed farming practices as part of the campaign.
Dr Usha Barwale Zehr, Executive Director, Grow Indigo, described the payment as the first instance in India of farmers being paid for carbon stored in their soil. She also acknowledged the participation of farmers during the scientific assessment and verification process.
Farmers Harinderjeet Gill of Nurpur Bet, Ludhiana, and Amandeep Kaur of Sangrur shared their experiences of adopting regenerative practices, including the economic and environmental benefits associated with improved residue management and avoiding crop-residue burning.
Punjab has also recorded a decline in farm-fire incidents. Government data show that the state reported 5,114 farm-fire incidents during the 2025 paddy harvesting season, the lowest level since monitoring under the present framework began. This represented a 93 per cent reduction from 2021 and a 90 per cent reduction from 2022.
The Ransinh Kalan model in Moga has also demonstrated the potential of sustained residue-management efforts, with the village maintaining a residue-burning-free status across 1,310 acres for six consecutive years.
The development also connects with India’s broader international cooperation on sustainable agriculture. 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. Initial coordination has been assigned to ICAR–Indian Institute of Farming System Research (IIFSR), Modipuram. The BRICS New Delhi Declaration, adopted in September 2026, subsequently welcomed efforts to strengthen cooperation through the network.
The Ludhiana programme brings together farmer-focused research, ICAR’s Lab-to-Land approach through its research institutions, ATARIs and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), and international cooperation on sustainable agriculture. The first soil-carbon payments demonstrate how measured environmental outcomes can be linked with economic incentives for farmers while supporting resource conservation, climate resilience and sustainable agricultural production.
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