Carbon Farming

Carbon farming is a new approach for land management that allows carbon sequestration by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Agriculture, forestry, and other land-use practices lead to 24% of global GHG emissions. Silvopastoral system and agroforestry generate more amount of biomass and are more efficient in the sequestration of large amounts of carbon. Carbon farming increases the carbon sinks in soil because of improvement in soil aeration from the addition of organic carbon, which reduces the process of denitrification and increases sink capacity for methane. Carbon stocking helps to increase water-holding capacity and nutrient availability of the soil which ultimately improves soil health. Also, in limited moisture conditions, biochar can efficiently improve soil moisture storage as it has a good amount of recalcitrant carbon. Again, in hot and harsh climate, Jatropha curcas is a well-adapted plant that has the ability to capture 17–25 t of carbon dioxide per hectare per year from the atmosphere (over a 20-year period). A bill to amend the Energy Conservation Act of 2001 was adopted by the Central Government of India in 2022 with the motive to establish voluntary carbon credit trading scheme and market within 2023. Carbon credit is a permit that allows the holding company to release a certain amount of carbon dioxide or any GHG. Conversely, government or any other authorized agency has issued carbon credit certificates to an organization/institution that has helped to remove GHGs from the atmosphere. Gujarat created the first carbon credit trading market in India in 2022. So, one carbon credit certifies that one metric ton of carbon dioxide has been removed from the atmosphere. Despite so many advantages of carbon farming, well-informed advisory services are necessary to motivate farmers to adopt carbon farming practices that will help improve production and soil health.