Archive · 17 Sep 2026
Government Disburses Rs 2.9 Crore Soil Carbon Payments
The government is helping farmers earn extra money for using climate-friendly farming methods.
The first payments went to 2,550 farmers in Punjab and Haryana.
Together, they will receive more than Rs 2.9 crore through digital payments.
The farmers used methods such as planting rice without transplanting seedlings and managing leftover crop straw.
These methods can save water, improve soil and reduce pollution from burning farm waste.
Scientists measured the changes and checked them independently.
The payments came from carbon credits created by the farmers’ environmental improvements.
More farmers will receive money later when their carbon credits are measured and issued.
More than Rs 2.9 crore will be distributed digitally to 2,550 small farmers in Punjab and Haryana.
The first payments covered about 30,000 acres and more than 50,000 carbon credits.
Farmers received approximately Rs 3,000 to Rs 15,000 each for verified soil-carbon and emissions reductions.
Participating farmers used direct-seeded rice, reduced tillage and crop-residue management from 2019 to 2022.
The programme estimates saving 45 billion litres of water and preventing over two lakh tonnes of crop residue from being burned.
- Who
- The Ministry of Agriculture, ICAR, Grow Indigo and 2,550 small farmers in Punjab and Haryana.
- What
- More than Rs 2.9 crore in soil-carbon payments is being distributed through digital transfers for verified regenerative farming practices.
- When
- The first payments were released on Wednesday; the reported farming practices covered 2019 to 2022.
- Where
- The payment programme was held at Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana, covering farms in Punjab and Haryana.
- Why
- To reward farming practices that increase soil carbon, reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, conserve water and limit crop-residue burning.
- Total payment
- More than Rs 2.9 crore
- Beneficiaries
- 2,550 small farmers
- Initial coverage
- About 30,000 acres and more than 50,000 carbon credits
- Individual payments
- Approximately Rs 3,000–Rs 15,000 per farmer
- Programme
- Aadi, a Grow Indigo farmer carbon programme launched in 2019
- Carbon-credit methodology
- Verra VM0042
- Estimated environmental benefits
- 45 billion litres of water saved and more than two lakh tonnes of crop residue kept out of fires