Farmers to earn more from carbon credit

The World Bank's BioCarbon Fund (BioCF) on Tuesday signed an Emission Reduction Purchase Agreement (ERPA) that will enable small and marginal farmers in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh to earn additional revenues through carbon credits by afforesting their severely degraded lands.

Under the agreement, the BioCF will purchase 276,000 tCO2e (tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent) between 2008 and 2017, with an option for an additional purchase of 370,200 tCO2e.

"The ERPA is the first of its kind in India. It is India's first LULUCF (Land Use and Land Use Change and Forestry) project to sell emission reductions (ERs) earned through carbon sequestration in newly established agro-forestry plantations. This will not only create additional income for resource-poor farmers, but will also contribute to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs)," Martien Van Nieuwkoop, World Bank's task team leader for the project, stated in a press release.

The BioCF will purchase ERs generated by the 'India Improving Rural Livelihoods through Carbon Sequestration Project'. Carbon sequestration is the term describing processes that remove carbon from the atmosphere to help mitigate global warming.

The project has been developed jointly by JK Paper Ltd in Rayagada, Orissa, and VEDA MACS Ltd - Vanitha Empowerment, Development and Advancement (VEDA) Mutually Aided Cooperative Society (MACS) of Hyderabad - which addresses issues related to sustainable agro-forestry practices.