Amazon has signed a long-term carbon credit offtake agreement worth $30 million (₹280 crore) with The Good Rice Alliance (TGRA), marking a significant corporate investment in agriculture-based methane reduction in India.

This agreement includes the procurement of more than 685,000 metric tonnes of carbon credits created due to changes in farming practices related to rice cultivation. This project has been developed by Bayer in partnership with Shell and GenZero.

The project focuses on the reduction of emissions of methane from rice farming, which happens to be one of the leading causes of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. As compared to carbon dioxide, methane is believed to have a much greater impact on global warming over a span of a hundred years.

The project covers about 35,000 hectares of land and employs over 13,000 small farmers to implement alternate wetting and drying (AWD) and direct-seeded rice (DSR). These techniques reduce methane emissions as a result of waterlogging of farm lands and have helped in saving up to 30% of water for irrigation.

Credits issued in the programme are verified by using the VM0051 methodology developed by Verra, which applies to enhanced rice production. This process involves collecting information from the ground level, soil and emissions modelling, as well as using satellite imagery to monitor the state of the soil moisture content and provide results.

This particular agreement demonstrates the tendency among companies to purchase credits for the reduction of emissions that are hard to reduce directly through other means. Credits that are related to agriculture have recently become popular due to their possible impact on the climate system, along with positive effects such as saving water resources.

At present, voluntary carbon markets are under criticism for their lack of credibility when it comes to reducing emissions and measuring their amounts. As a solution to this problem, projects that use direct measurements and verification can be considered.

India stands out as one of the locations where projects like these can be found. This choice is explained by the fact that India is an agricultural country where the emissions of greenhouse gases can potentially be reduced through changes in agricultural practices.

This agreement serves as evidence of increased demand for carbon credits related to methane reduction.