Odisha Government, through its Directorate of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment (DAFE) has collaborated with International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) to launch a project aimed at developing a farmer centric carbon market in India. The project will establish robust standards and scale carbon farming practices to enhance rural livelihoods and climate resilience practices.
The project Carbon Standards for Incentivizing Farmers for Regenerative Agricultural Practices (CSIFRA), initially launched in 2023 will be implemented in Sambalpur, Bargarh, and Subarnapur districts of Odisha. The project is closely linked to Government of India’s Voluntary Carbon Market initiative, launched in 2023. The initiative will enable farmers to earn carbon credits by adopting eco-friendly farming practices and could prove a major step towards climate-smart agriculture in the country.
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ICRISAT Project to Drive Regenerative Paddy Farming and Carbon Market
The ICRISAT project will open the doorway to major shift adoption of regenerative farming practices, especially in paddy cultivation. Sustainable practices such as direct-seeded rice, alternate wetting and drying (AWD), and integrated nutrient management are a crucial part of this initiative, which will enable establishment of scientifically validated carbon standards by measuring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at the farm level.
ICRISAT has made considerable efforts to develop India-specific carbon standard protocols that can be adopted under the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme for rice ecologies. This process requires robust field-level data collection that will ensure streamlined implementation, accessible and scalable for small land holding farmers.
The ICRISAT Director General Dr. Himanshu Pathak has stated that the programme holds immense potential to turn Indian farmers into both climate warriors and carbon credit earners.
Agriculture is often criticized for its GHG emissions, yet our agri-food systems—our very source of sustenance—suffer the worst of climate change. Carbon credits can reverse this trend, empowering farmers to be both climate-responsible and more profitable
Additionally, Dr. Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Principal Secretary of the Odisha Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment has stated that the project seeks to establish a standardized Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) system which will ensure fair compensation for those farmers who have taken the initiative of adopting carbon negative practices. The ICRISAT led project will lay the groundwork for a scalable carbon market in Indian agriculture, turning what was once seen as a challenge into a climate and income opportunity.
Odisha’s’ Push for Carbon Farming
The government apparatus in Odisha has taken major steps to raise awareness among farmers and agriculture officials about the fundamentals of carbon markets and its incentives, through video explainers and illustrations. After these awareness campaigns, a general consensus emerged to form farmer cooperatives to ease market access and facilitate the integration of carbon farming into existing agricultural schemes, which will ensure orderly participation of farmers in the carbon credit markets, and also improve access to government incentives.
Prior to this initiative ICRISAT and the Odisha government collaborated to transform post-harvest rice-fallow lands through introduction of short-duration pulses and oilseeds that use residual soil moisture. Rice fallow management as the approach is called enhances crop coverage, reduces soil degradation, increase soil nutrients through crop systems approach, and improve overall nutrition security through the use of pulses and other crops.
The project utilized GIS mapping, quality seeds, and farmer training, and expanded from 70,000 ha in 2022–23 to over 380,000 ha in 2023–24, reaching 1.5 lakh farmers with over half of them being women. The initiative helped raise farmer incomes and also improved cropping intensity. Rice fallow management helps in cutting methane emissions, boosting soil carbon, and reduce nitrous oxide by using legumes that fix nitrogen naturally. This process also avoids land use change emissions by intensifying existing farmland instead of expanding cultivation, contributing towards growth of carbon farming.