How India’s farms could lock away carbon instead of releasing it

One-seventh of India’s greenhouse gas emissions come from its agricultural fields. Those same fields, with the right tools and policies, could do the opposite — pull vast amounts of carbon out of the air and lock it safely underground.

Carbon farming, a nature-based, regenerative approach, can transform India’s fields from being net emitters to robust carbon sinks – pushing soil carbon stocks up by 0.3–0.6 tC/ha per year1. India could cut a significant share of emissions each year – a minimum of 0.1–0.21 GtCO₂ equivalent/year. Over the next 20 years, this could add up to a large amount of carbon — 2.15–4.3 Gt CO₂ equivalent – being removed from the atmosphere.

Carbon farming works by pulling carbon dioxide from the air and storing it in plant roots, leaves, and soil through photosynthesis, steadily building soil organic carbon. Adding farmyard manure, compost, and biochar amplifies this effect, while minimal or no-till mulching, crop rotation, and integrated farming keep ecosystems in balance.

Together, they reduce CO₂ emissions from burning crop waste, nitrogen oxide (N2O) emissions from synthetic fertilisers, and methane from growing water-intensive rice — the largest of the country’s agricultural emitters.

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