NEW DELHI: The Meghalaya government has made a groundbreaking move by disbursing payments to farmers for their contributions to carbon sequestration through the plantation of multi-species tree-based agroforestry in biodiversity hotspots.This first payment marks a significant step toward establishing India’s emerging carbon market, supporting livelihoods driven by the community. Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Conrad K. Sangma, presented cheques to farmers from the Garo Hills region.The MegCare program, officially known as the Meghalaya Carbon Agroforestry for Community Resilience and Ecosystems, was launched in collaboration with Iora Ecological Solutions (IORA) and Rabobank’s Acorn platform. The program aims to promote carbon market initiatives with community involvement since 2024.The programme enabled tree-based farming practices among 10,400 farmers who planted diverse trees over 22,000 hectares. The efforts improved biodiversity, secured spring sheds, stored carbon in the soil, and expanded biomass. Farmers under MegCare receive carbon income based on the volume of carbon they remove through agroforestry.In this first round of payments, the sale price of each Carbon Removal Unit (CRU) reached EUR 40 – the highest per-tonne carbon payment ever made to farmers in India and nearly four to five times the global average.
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