India's First Soil-Carbon Payments: Over 2,500 Farmers in Punjab and Haryana to Receive ₹2.9 Crore

Why is India's First Soil-Carbon Payment Initiative in News?

On 17 September 2026, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare announced the initiation of India's first soil-carbon payments to farmers under a regenerative agriculture programme.

The first payments were released at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. Dr M. L. Jat, Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education and Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, initiated Direct Benefit Transfer payments to 2,550 farmers from Punjab and Haryana.

More than ₹2.9 crore is to be disbursed to participating farmers. The payments reward agricultural practices associated with measured and independently verified environmental outcomes.

What is the Aadi Programme?

Aadi is a farmer carbon programme launched by Grow Indigo in 2019 with technical guidance from ICAR.

The programme encourages farmers to adopt regenerative agricultural practices that can improve soil health, conserve resources and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

Participating farmers adopted practices during 2019–2022. The resulting changes were measured and independently verified before agricultural carbon credits were issued.

What is Regenerative Agriculture?

Regenerative agriculture refers to farming approaches intended to improve soil health and support the long-term functioning of agricultural ecosystems.

Depending on local conditions, these approaches may include reduced tillage, retaining crop residues, diversified cropping and improved water management.

The effects of a particular practice depend on soil type, climate, cropping system and management. Regenerative agriculture should therefore be assessed using actual field results rather than assuming that every practice delivers identical benefits everywhere.

What is Soil Carbon?

Soil carbon is carbon stored in soil organic matter and other carbon-containing soil components.

Organic matter enters soil through plant residues, roots and other biological materials. Soil organisms help transform these materials.

Soil carbon is important for soil structure, nutrient cycling, water retention and the global carbon cycle.

What is Soil Carbon Sequestration?

Soil carbon sequestration is the process of increasing the amount of carbon stored in soil over time.

It may occur when carbon inputs from plants and other sources exceed carbon losses through decomposition, erosion or other processes.

The amount of carbon stored can change over time. Reliable measurement and monitoring are necessary when soil-carbon gains are used to support carbon-credit claims.

What is a Carbon Credit?

A carbon credit generally represents a quantified amount of greenhouse-gas emission reduction or removal under an applicable carbon-crediting framework.

One carbon credit commonly represents one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Carbon dioxide equivalent allows different greenhouse gases to be expressed using a common measure based on their climate effects.

How Were the Credits Generated?

Participating farmers adopted practices such as Direct Seeded Rice, reduced tillage and improved crop-residue management.

The programme assessed greenhouse-gas reductions and increases in soil carbon.

The results underwent measurement and independent verification before credits were issued.

What is Direct Seeded Rice?

Direct Seeded Rice, or DSR, is a cultivation method in which rice seeds are sown directly in the field rather than first raising seedlings in a nursery and transplanting them.

Depending on the cultivation system and local conditions, DSR can reduce labour requirements and irrigation demand compared with conventional transplanting.

Successful adoption requires suitable management of weeds, water and soil conditions.

What is Reduced Tillage?

Tillage involves mechanical disturbance of soil for agricultural operations.

Reduced tillage limits the intensity or frequency of soil disturbance.

It can help preserve soil structure and reduce some forms of erosion, although outcomes depend on the wider farming system.

Crop-Residue Management

Crop residues include stalks, straw, leaves and other plant material remaining after harvesting.

Appropriate management may involve retaining residues on fields, using them as mulch or collecting them for productive uses.

Reducing open-field residue burning can also help limit smoke and particulate pollution.

What is the Scale of the Aadi Programme?

According to the Ministry's 17 September release, the programme covers more than two million acres and over 100,000 farmers across seven States.

The first carbon-credit issuance covered approximately 30,000 acres and more than 50,000 carbon credits.

These figures describe different levels of programme coverage. The 2,550 farmers receiving the initial payments should not be confused with the programme's total enrolled farmers.

How Much Will Individual Farmers Receive?

The official announcement reported payments of approximately ₹3,000–₹15,000 to participating farmers in the first issuance.

Payments were linked to each farmer's share of carbon credits generated from the relevant fields.

Farmers could choose between an assured upfront payment and 75% of net carbon revenue after credit sales.

Were All Carbon Credits Already Sold?

No. Grow Indigo released the payments digitally from its own funds before the credits were fully sold.

This allowed farmers to receive payments without waiting for completion of all carbon-credit sales.

What is Verra VM0042?

The programme issued agricultural carbon credits under the Verra VM0042 methodology.

VM0042 is a methodology associated with improved agricultural land management. It provides a framework for quantifying eligible greenhouse-gas benefits under the applicable crediting programme.

Use of a methodology does not remove the need for monitoring, documentation and independent verification.

Role of ICAR

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research provided scientific and technical support through its institutions.

The Ministry identified work involving greenhouse-gas accounting, crop-simulation modelling, soil-sampling protocols, device validation, field-team training, satellite observations and remote sensing.

Role of IARI and ATARI

ICAR–Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, contributed scientific expertise to the initiative.

Grow Indigo is also working with ICAR–Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute, Zone 1, to promote regenerative agriculture.

Estimated Environmental Outcomes

For enrolled fields during 2019–2022, the programme estimated savings of 45 billion litres of water.

It also estimated that more than two lakh tonnes of crop residues were kept out of fires, avoiding approximately 1,000 tonnes of PM2.5 emissions.

These are programme estimates for the specified fields and period, not measurements for all agricultural land in Punjab and Haryana.

What is PM2.5?

PM2.5 refers to particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 micrometres or less.

These fine particles can penetrate deeply into the respiratory system. Exposure is associated with adverse health effects.

Punjab's Farm-Fire Data

The Ministry reported 5,114 farm-fire incidents during Punjab's 2025 paddy-harvesting season.

According to the release, this represented a 93% reduction compared with 2021 and a 90% reduction compared with 2022.

These State-level figures provide broader context; the announcement does not establish that the Aadi programme alone caused the entire reduction.

Ransinh Kalan Model

The Ministry highlighted Ransinh Kalan village in Moga district, Punjab.

It reported that the village maintained a residue-burning-free status across 1,310 acres for six consecutive years.

Connection with BRICS

The 16th BRICS Agriculture Ministers' Meeting, held in Indore in June 2026, agreed to establish a BRICS Network of Centres of Excellence on Agroecology and Regenerative Agriculture for Climate Resilience and Productivity.

Initial coordination was assigned to ICAR–Indian Institute of Farming System Research, Modipuram.

Important Facts for Competitive Exams

• Announcement date: 17 September 2026.
• Location of initial payments: Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.
• Farmers included in initial DBT: 2,550.
• States: Punjab and Haryana.
• Amount to be disbursed: more than ₹2.9 crore.
• Programme: Aadi.
• Organisation: Grow Indigo, with technical guidance from ICAR.
• Programme launched: 2019.
• Programme coverage: more than two million acres and over 100,000 farmers across seven States.
• First issuance: approximately 30,000 acres and more than 50,000 carbon credits.
• Reported individual payments: approximately ₹3,000–₹15,000.
• Crediting methodology: Verra VM0042.
• DSR stands for Direct Seeded Rice.