UP Government to launch plantation drive to boost farmer's income

The Uttar Pradesh government has launched an initiative to boost the income of the state's farmers by encouraging them to participate in the plantation drive and earn carbon credits. The Yogi Adityanath government will launch a massive plantation drive in the state on 20 July 2024, with a target of planting 36.50 crore saplings. 

Aim of the Uttar Pradesh Plantation Drive 

The aim of the massive plantation drive is threefold: 

• First, the massive afforestation drive will increase the forest cover in the state.
• Second, it will also help achieve the government of India's goal of achieving net zero carbon status by 2070.
• Selling carbon credits will also become an additional source of income for farmers participating in the afforestation drive.  

How will the farmers benefit, and what is carbon credit?

Carbon credits were introduced under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. This mechanism allows a country committed to reducing carbon dioxide or greenhouse gas emissions to invest in carbon-reducing projects in developing countries.

Any organisation or company can undertake carbon emission reduction projects like planting trees. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the environment and release oxygen, so the more trees planted, the greater the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in the environment.

The reduced carbon emission can be calculated using a defined formula.

The farmer can monetise the reduction in carbon emissions due to his tree plantation. This is called a carbon credit. The farmers can sell the carbon credit to other industries that produce carbon. The industry will buy the carbon credit from the farmer, pay him money, and adjust the amount of carbon they produce with the bought carbon credits.

The one carbon credit is equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide or its equivalent greenhouse gasses.

Payment for Carbon Credit 

Under the Uttar Pradesh scheme, farmers will be encouraged to plant fast-growing trees like Melia, Dubia, Poplar, and Semal. The state government will purchase carbon credits from the farmers every five years at a rate of six US  dollars per carbon credit.

Scheme to be implemented in Three Phases 

The scheme for the farmers will be implemented in three phases. 

• In the first phase six districts, Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Meerut, Moradabad, and Saharanpur, have been chosen.
• Devipatan, Ayodhya, Jhansi, Mirzapur, Kanpur, Varanasi, and Aligarh have been selected for the second phase.
• In the third phase, the entire state is proposed to be covered under the scheme.

The scheme is expected to benefit around 25,140 farmers, and the total payment for the carbon credits is expected to be around Rs 202 crore.

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and VNV Advisory Services are helping the Uttar Pradesh government with this process.