New Delhi: The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has developed a framework for promoting Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) in India for the agricultural sector to encourage small and marginal farmers to get carbon credit benefits, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, said on Friday.
“Introducing carbon markets to farmers can accelerate the acceptance of eco-friendly agriculture practices while enhancing their income. Farmers can adopt sustainable agriculture practices and get additional income from carbon credits as well as other agro-ecological benefits in terms of improved natural capital such as soil, water and bio-diversity,” the minister said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.
The Framework for the voluntary carbon markets in the agriculture sector will help promote carbon market among the farming community, incentivize and finance sustainable agricultural practices. The major objective of the VCM framework is to create awareness and capacity building of the stakeholders, motivating farmers to adopt sustainable agricultural practices. In the long run this would contribute to sustainable development goals, support rural livelihoods, and promote resilience in agriculture, he added.
The government notified the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme in December 2023 for implementation of the carbon trading mechanism. Under the offset mechanism of carbon trading, one of the selected sectors is the Agriculture sector. Through this scheme, entities /farmers would be able to register GHG mitigation projects for issuance of carbon credit certificates that meet the required parameters as per approved methodologies.
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