Giving Compass' Take:
- Emmanuel D'Silva highlights the Saguna Rice Technique, an agricultural practice that not only increases farm yields but also improves the health of soils, thereby storing more carbon.
- How can donors help provide support to more programs like SRT that help developing countries with sustainable agricultural practices?
- Here's how soil can improve food security while combating climate change.
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A new project will help farmers increase their income as well as store carbon in their soil. Starting with 20 farmers in two districts of Maharashtra state in India, the carbon farming project will compensate farmers for increases in soil organic carbon. These farmers follow no-till practices in growing rice and other cover crops.
The project is an initiative of Shekar Bhadsavale, a California-educated progressive farmer from Neral, and Emmanuel D’Silva, an agriculture and environment scientist from Mumbai who previously worked at the World Bank.
Bhadsavale has pioneered Saguna Rice Technique (SRT), a form of zero-till conservation agriculture, which has been accepted by over 1,000 farmers in several Indian states. D’Silva had initiated carbon credit programs through tree plantations in 44 tribal villages a decade earlier.
Read the full article about carbon farming in India by Emmanuel D'Silva at Food Tank.