The agri-tech startup Grow Indigo has made one of the first payments to farmers in India for agricultural carbon credits. The company paid approximately 2,550 farmers amounts ranging from 3,000 to 15,000 rupees for selling over 57,000 credits.
These payments were made from Grow Indigo's own funds because the carbon credits had not yet been fully sold to potential buyers. Umang Agarwal, Carbon Operations Director at Grow Indigo, told Business Standard that this payment pertains to carbon credits accumulated between 2019 and 2022.
According to information on its website, Grow Indigo is jointly promoted by Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Ltd (Mahyco) and Indigo Ag from the United States of America. Agarwal clarified that under the initial agreement with farmers, they were entitled to 75 percent of the net income from the sale of carbon credits.
However, since the payment period was delayed due to various reasons, including difficulties in finding buyers, the company offered farmers the option of receiving an immediate fixed payment without waiting for the deal to close. Agarwal explained that most farmers chose this lump-sum fixed option.
He added that if the company manages to sell the credits at a price higher than the amount paid out, it will be reflected as profit in its balance sheet, while the reverse situation will be accounted for as a loss. According to Agarwal, almost all 2,550 farmers who sold carbon credits belong to rice and wheat growing regions in Punjab and Haryana.
Concurrently, a multi-year study was conducted by Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Agricultural University in Himachal Pradesh (CSKHPKV) and the rice seed technology company Savannah Seeds. The study showed that rice production using the SAVA-134 FullPage direct seeding method can significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve water use efficiency.
FullPage is a patented rice cultivation solution from Savannah Seeds. The results showed that compared to traditional rice transplanting systems, SAVA-134 FullPage® direct seeding reduced methane emissions by almost 90 percent, provided the highest water productivity, improved soil health, and demonstrated the greatest potential for generating carbon credits.
Dr. Dhanbir Singh, Assistant Soil Chemist at the Department of Soil Science, CSKHPKV, noted: 'Our goal was to assess practical solutions that can help farmers increase productivity while simultaneously reducing environmental impact. The results demonstrate that directly sown rice can play an important role in promoting more climate-resilient and resource-efficient rice production systems.'
Rice is grown on an area of over 164 million hectares (405 million acres), with Asia producing about 90 percent of the global volume. Most rice cultivation is carried out through transplanting systems, which require flooded fields, intensive labor, and large amounts of water, and also contribute to methane emissions.
