Farmers receive first tranche of payments under Telangana paddy carbon programme
Hyderabad, Sept 1 (TNT): Sow & Reap Climatech on Monday distributed the first tranche of payments to farmers enrolled in its Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) carbon mitigation programme in Telangana at a farmer appreciation ceremony held at the ICRISAT campus in Patancheru.
Zaheerabad MP Suresh Kumar Shetkar presented cheques to selected farmers from different districts at the ‘Varri Varrahalu’ ceremony held here on Monday.
The remaining payments will be disbursed in phases, the company said in a release.
The programme has so far covered more than 3 lakh acres across eight districts of Telangana, with farmers adopting AWD instead of continuous flooding in paddy cultivation.
AWD involves controlled cycles of wetting and drying of paddy fields and is aimed at reducing methane emissions and irrigation water use without affecting crop yields, according to Sow & Reap Climatech.
The programme is estimated to mitigate around 6 lakh tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually. The company said 18,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions had been verified, with more than 3.7 lakh tonnes in the pipeline.
Speaking at the event, Shetkar said farmers should not have to choose between productivity and sustainability and that agricultural systems should enable water conservation, improved soil health and reduced emissions while increasing farm incomes.
Sow & Reap Climatech founder Suraj Teja said the programme marked the first instance in Telangana of a project of this nature being verified, issued carbon credits and resulting in payments reaching farmers.
The company is also collaborating with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) to strengthen research and digital measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) systems for the programme.
ICRISAT Deputy Director General–Research and Innovation Stanford Blade said the collaboration would seek to combine scientific research, credible measurement and farmer participation to promote low-emission agriculture and deliver sustained benefits to farmers.
The organisations also plan to explore extending the technology to rice-growing systems across Asia and other regions.
TNT TS
