India Agricultural Carbon Market DBT Launch

India’s agricultural carbon market has advanced to direct farm-level execution, with over 2,500 smallholder farmers across Punjab and Haryana receiving digital payments for implementing regenerative farming practices. At an event hosted at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) Secretary and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Director General Dr. M. L. Jat initiated Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) payments to 2,550 farmers. These disbursements stem from 'Aadi'—a farmer carbon program launched in 2019 by Grow Indigo under ICAR's technical guidance. Between 2019 and 2022, participating farmers adopted sustainable techniques such as Direct Seeded Rice (DSR), reduced tillage, and active crop residue management. The resulting greenhouse gas abatement and soil organic carbon sequestration were scientifically measured and independently verified before issuing carbon credits. Operating across seven states covering over two million acres and 100,000 farmers, the initiative issued agricultural carbon credits under the international Verra VM0042 methodology. The inaugural issuance spanned roughly 30,000 acres and generated over 50,000 carbon credits, enabling participating farmers to receive direct payouts ranging between ₹3,000 and ₹15,000 ($31.79–$158.93) based on their individual field-level carbon yield. Grow Indigo facilitated these upfront digital transfers using its own capital prior to complete credit liquidation. Environmental impact assessments indicate that practices implemented from 2019 to 2022 conserved 45 billion liters of water, prevented over two lakh tonnes of crop residue burning, and eliminated an estimated 1,000 tonnes of PM2.5 emissions, establishing a scalable model for climate-resilient agriculture.