01 JUNE 2024 – The Hindu

A Way Forward for Sustainable Agriculture through Carbon Farming

• Carbon farming has become a vital mechanism in the global agriculture sector due to the growing environmental concerns and the urgent need for climate-resilient agricultural techniques.

• All living things on Earth include carbon, which is a fundamental component of life and influences a wide range of processes, including respiration and photosynthesis. Farming is the practice of tending to land, cultivating crops, and rearing animals for food.

Carbon farming: What is it?

• The term “carbon farming” refers to a deliberate method of increasing carbon sequestration through the use of agricultural techniques that improve atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption and help it stay in the soil and plant biomass.
• To enhance this process’s effectiveness in mitigating climate change, meticulous planning, monitoring, and adaptation to local conditions are necessary.

What Role Does Carbon Farming Play?

• Climate Change Mitigation: By storing carbon in soil and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, carbon farming plays a critical role in the battle against climate change.
• Enhancement of Soil Health: Carbon farming increases crop yields and agricultural production by promoting healthy soil, which also reduces erosion, increases water retention, and increases nutrient availability.
• transforming organic waste into compost, a soil additive that increases soil fertility, structure, and carbon content.
• Biodiversity Enrichment: By creating complex ecosystems in agricultural settings and drawing beneficial insects and pollinators that strengthen crop health and reduce reliance on pesticides, carbon farming promotes biodiversity.
• Economic Opportunities: By implementing carbon farming practices, farmers can possibly increase their yields from enriched soil and access carbon credit markets, diversifying their sources of revenue and strengthening their financial resilience.

What Methods Are Applied in Carbon Farming?

Management of Forests:

• A vital source of greenhouse gas (GHG) sequestration, healthy trees absorb and store carbon dioxide emissions from other sources. A range of tactics, such as preventing deforestation, permanently conserving land, planting new trees and engaging in replanting, and better forest management, can be used to provide carbon offsets.
• Deforestation accounts for 15-20% of the increase in greenhouse gas levels worldwide. Activities to mitigate this include managing forests by thinning them out, selectively harvesting trees, encouraging regrowth, planting new trees, and using fertilisers to help forests grow in a productive and sustainable way. Agroforestry not only sequesters carbon but also gives farmers additional sources of income.

Conservation of Grasslands:

• Natural sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) sequestration and absorption are provided by native grasses and other vegetation.
• This category of carbon offsets focuses on preserving natural plant life by permanently conserving land and preventing its conversion for intensive farming or commercial development.

Production of Renewable Energy:

• Carbon offsets are produced by renewable energy facilities like solar or wind power, which displace fossil fuel-based electricity production sources from the power grid.
• The project developer owns the carbon credit, which is produced by the carbon offsets from a certified third-party project.

Techniques for Conservation Agriculture:

• Techniques that reduce soil disturbance while promoting the buildup of organic matter include crop rotation, cover crops, zero tillage, and crop residue management.
• During fallow seasons, cover crops should be planted to preserve and improve the soil, increase biodiversity, and sequester carbon.

Grazing in Rotation:

• It involves moving cattle to new pastures on a regular basis. By doing this, grazed areas are allowed to regenerate, reducing erosion and encouraging strong regrowth.
• In exchange, the thriving flora uses photosynthesis to take in carbon dioxide from the air and store it in the soil.

What Part Does Mangrove Play in Sequestering Carbon?

Storage of Carbon:

• Mangroves’ below-ground roots, above-ground biomass, and organic-rich sediments are major carbon stores.
• Over time, mangrove soils’ thick vegetation and sluggish rates of organic matter breakdown lead to significant carbon buildup.

Ecosystem of Blue Carbon:

• The term “blue carbon” ecosystem, which includes salt marshes, seagrass beds, and other coastal and marine habitats where carbon is stored, includes mangroves.
• In comparison to other ecosystems, mangroves sequester and store a disproportionately high quantity of carbon, even though they make up less than 0.1% of the Earth’s surface.

What Are India’s Prospective Carbon Farming Opportunities?

• Economic Opportunity: With an estimated potential of $63 billion from roughly 170 million hectares of fertile land, India’s vast agricultural base offers substantial economic opportunities through the implementation of carbon farming practices.
• Carbon Credit Systems: By acknowledging Indian farmers’ contributions to environmental services, the implementation of carbon credit systems can provide them with additional revenue sources.
• India’s agricultural soils have the capacity to store 3–8 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent each year for 20–30 years, giving farmers the chance to take part in carbon trading schemes.
• Regional Suitability: The suitability of various Indian locations for carbon farming programmes varies.
• Carbon farming practices are especially well-suited for the lush plains of the Deccan Plateau and the Indo-Gangetic area.
• However, areas like the coastal regions and foothills of the Himalayas confront unique obstacles due to salinization and steep terrain, which may call for customised approaches to the implementation of carbon farming.

Global Carbon Farming Initiatives: What Are They?

• Carbon Trading: Voluntary carbon markets are starting to emerge in a few countries, including the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.
• By allowing farmers to participate in verified carbon sequestration projects and receive additional revenue, these platforms promote the adoption of carbon farming practices.
• Additional Worldwide Initiatives: Programmes such as the ‘4 per 1000’ project.
• The World Bank-backed Kenyan Agricultural Carbon Project was unveiled during the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris.
• The Carbon Farming Initiative in Australia promotes carbon farming worldwide.
• India’s Legal Framework: The Energy Conservation Act of 2001 was amended by the Indian government in 2022, setting the groundwork for the development of the Indian Carbon Market. In order to learn about the problems and viewpoints of industry stakeholders, the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW) held a stakeholder discussion after this.
• The two main types of carbon markets—project-based/offset and Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) markets—are briefly dissected in this article, along with the essential characteristics that define their functional bounds and environmental integrity.

What Difficulties Are Associated with Carbon Farming?

• Soil Composition: To improve fertility and carbon sequestration ability, soils with low organic matter content or poor structure may have limited capacity to store carbon and may need to be amended.
• Geographic Location: The choices for land use and the productivity of agriculture are also influenced by geographic elements such as elevation, slope, and proximity to water sources.
• For instance, because of the lower temperatures, high-altitude places would have fewer crop possibilities, and coastal areas might have problems with soil salinity and saltwater intrusion.
• Crop Varieties: To maximise agricultural productivity and carbon sequestration potential, cultivators must choose crop varieties appropriate for particular soil types, climates, and growing seasons. Crop varieties that are resilient to pests, diseases, and extreme weather events can also improve crop yields and support soil health and carbon sequestration.
• However, farmers’ capacity to exploit the benefits of carbon farming may be hampered by a lack of better seeds or a lack of diversified crop kinds.
• Water Scarcity: Photosynthesis and plant development are critical functions for sequestering carbon dioxide and require an adequate supply of water.
• Due to insufficient water availability, which hinders plant growth and lowers the capacity for carbon sequestration, arid environments provide difficulties for carbon farming.
• Financial Difficulties: In developing countries such as India, small-scale farmers frequently have financial difficulties in covering the upfront costs of adopting sustainable techniques that are necessary for carbon farming.
• Limited legislative Support: The potential benefit of carbon farming methods on mitigating climate change is impeded by the broad adoption of these activities, which is made more difficult by the lack of strong legislative frameworks and community engagement.

Which tactics can be used to promote carbon farming?

• The creation of carbon sinks on agricultural lands can be demonstrated by enacting comprehensive legislation pertaining to carbon farming. This method has the potential to mitigate climate problems, enhance agricultural sustainability, and foster equitable development.
• Direct Incentives for Farmers: Since the forestry and agriculture sectors play a crucial role in carbon capture, it is necessary to offer direct incentives to farmers in the form of credit support and tools to encourage the adoption of climate-friendly practices. Current policies do not offer specific tools that would strongly encourage the preservation and growth of carbon sinks.
• Using Carbon Credits and Banks: Carbon sequestration activities can be encouraged by providing farmers with globally marketable carbon credits and by setting up carbon banks. By making it easier to sell credits to businesses looking to offset their emissions, these methods can support sustainable land management.
• Collaborative Engagement: Well-thought-out policies, public-private partnerships, accurate quantification techniques, and finance mechanisms are all necessary for a successful carbon farming framework. Scalable implementation is essential to achieve quantifiable carbon collection while maintaining the resilience and health of the soil.
• Unlocking Soil Potential: Soil is a powerful carbon sink and a sometimes-overlooked climatic defence. India needs to take advantage of its potential to achieve decarbonisation and Net Zero targets.