An attempt to understand the Implications of Carbon Capture and Storage for the Small and Marginal Farmers in India.

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Final Year Student - B.Sc (Forestry), Forestry Department, JawaharLal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya
Jabalpur (M.P.) INDIA.
Carbon Capture and Sequestration:
Deciphering Its Implications for Small Holder Farmers
R. Abhishek1
Abstract:
This has been an attempt to understand what Carbon Sequestration can come to imply for the Small
Holder Farmers, given their pivotal role in the production equation as well as the ability of such
systems to accumulate significant amounts of Carbon. Smallholder agriculture has a rich and
untapped potential for emissions reductions that are in the interests of farmers themselves.
According to Albrecht & Kandji (2003), significant quantities of carbon could be removed from the
atmosphere in the next 50 years if agroforestry systems were implemented on a global scale. The
average cost of sequestering carbon through agroforestry systems is lower than other CO2
mitigation options, making it an attractive option. Further, many of the costs associated with
expanding agroforestry systems could be offset by monetary gains from the agricultural products
produced and the sale of carbon credits (Albrecht & Kandji, 2003). But since reduction of
atmospheric CO2 is a long-term concern, farmers can often be reluctant to spend on adopting
relevant agricultural techniques when there is not a clear crop, soil, or economic benefit in sight. A
little finance, it has been seen can go a long way in changing approaches, especially for smallholder
farmers, who are unable or reluctant to wait a long time for returns on investments and yield
increases, or to take on transition costs and risks – investments in agroforestry, for example, can
take about five years to reach their full potential. These approaches typically involve initial costs
related to higher capital and knowledge inputs. Though under field conditions, the scaling up of
Anthropogenic Carbon Sequestration techniques by simple modifications to agronomical practices
such as crop rotation, cover cropping, conservation tillage, restriction of livestock to limited areas
(light grazing), restoration of degraded lands etc.
can unlock the potential for small-holder agro-forestry projects to be competitive in markets for
carbon emission reduction credits. Because, even if the farming systems of individual small holder
farmers are of limited size, on per unit area basis smallholder systems accumulate significant
amounts of C, equalling the amount of C stored in some secondary forests of similar age. Their
ability to simultaneously address smallholder’s livelihood needs and store large amounts of carbon
makes smallholder systems viable project types under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of

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Final Year Student - B.Sc (Forestry), Forestry Department, JawaharLal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya
Jabalpur (M.P.) INDIA.
the Kyoto Protocol, with its dual objective of reducing CO2 emissions and sustainable development.
An increase of 1 ton of soil carbon pool of degraded cropland soils also increases crop yield by 20 to
40 kilograms per hectare (kg/ha) for wheat, 10 to 20 kg/ha for maize, and 0.5 to 1 kg/ha for
cowpeas. For this to transform to viable reality, it is pertinent that Smallholder systems conducive to
carbon capture and storage be devised in areas after duly considering the existence of enabling
conditions. It is also important that the agroforestry systems promoted through the said concept must
be socially and economically viable independent of C payments to enhance the smallholder’s
confidence.
Farmer Benefits - The benefits of sequestering carbon to small holder farmers are multifaceted:
 Enhancement of the SOC pool in degraded/desertified soils can lead to improvements in soil
quality (structure, aeration, water-holding capacity, CEC, habitat for soil organisms, etc.), with
numerous ancillary or co-benefits.
 Reduced plant water stress as a result of enhanced available water capacity in the root zone;
 Increased nutrient (N, P, S. Zn, etc.) retention and availability through enhancement of both the
intensity
and capacity factors;
 Enriched species diversity of soil biota, and activity of macrofauna with regards to biotillage effects
(e.g. missing, aerating) and microbial biomass/activity, i.e. decomposing, BNF (Rhizobium) and
enhancing nutrient uptake especially P (mychorrhizal fungi);
 Increased germination, good stand establishment and better plant growth;
 Increased water infiltration capacity and reduction in surface runoff or overland flow;
 Reduced risk of soil erosion, decline in dissolved and suspended soil particles and nutrients in
surface
runoff, and reduction of non-point source pollution;
 Decreased risk to fish and other aquatic life owing to oxygen depletion in rivers, estuaries and
coastal
waters;
 Increased use efficiency of inputs (e.g. fertilizers, irrigation) through reduction in losses of nutrients
andwater;

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Final Year Student - B.Sc (Forestry), Forestry Department, JawaharLal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya
Jabalpur (M.P.) INDIA.
 Increased NPP and agronomic yields of crops and livestock/land area, and
 Mitigation of climate change by off-setting anthropogenic emissions through C sequestration in
trees and soils.
Proper quantification, certification and verification measures within the grasps of farmers should be in
place prior to initiating PES – Payments for Ecosystem Services as Tree Credits or Carbon Credits using
Emissions Trading or Emissions Reduction Currency Systems (ERCS), schemes that provide a positive
economic and or social reward for offsetting CO2 emissions, modified so as to take into consideration the
limited size of land holdings or by inculcating the concept of farmer’s co-operative models in case of
agriculture, agroforestry or even tree plantations. Carbon Credits represent certified (through a rigorous
process) reductions in carbon emissions (measured in tonnes) from a project's activities. These are
established through an audit of all carbon emitting and carbon sequestering activities of a project during a
baseline year. Typically, farmers can form cooperatives and have their plantation activities registered to
benefit from carbon credits. Such trading encompassing even the smallholder farmers was yet to kick off
as of 2014 in INDIA despite a three-year rollout period. It was meant as a mandatory energy efficiency
trading scheme covering eight sectors responsible for 54 per cent of India’s net energy consumption,
including agriculture.
Potentials for furthering Farm Carbon Sequestration in India:
1. Effective Implementation of agricultural carbon capture and storage standards with an Indian
insight so that even the smallholder farmers can earn much valuable revenue by virtue of Carbon
credits and trade.
2. Accelerate the rates of carbon sequestration by Smart Modification of Land management
practices in Agroforestry/ Small holder farming, as soil can act as an effective carbon sink
offsetting as much as 20% of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
3. Improvement of existing indigenous agroforestry systems as they have much higher carbon stocks
and further potential to sequester carbon.
4. Conversion of large tracts of unproductive croplands and grasslands to agroforestry jointly
representing a C sequestration potential of 0.586 Tg C/yr by 2040 (1 Tg = 1 million tons), when
accounted for globally.
5. Consideration of ancillary parameters such as, farmer’s economic and educational status,
demography, social connections, culture, and resource availability prior to initiating CCS project
will improve the farmer’s attitude and adoptability of the same.
Even so on the brighter side, Potential measures in the same direction are already steadily making
progress - It has been estimated that 95 very poor rural villages would jointly earn at least
US$300,000 every year from carbon payments by restoring 10,000 hectares of
degraded community forests in the Handia Forest region of Madhya Pradesh. Thus meticulous
planning and implementation of improvised CCS methods in Smallholder farms within strong
regulatory and policy frameworks can work in everyone’s interest - by providing due returns to
farmers and mitigating emission-induced climate change.