India-West News Desk
SAN MATEO, CA – In a huge breakthrough for climate finance and agricultural sustainability, San Mateo, California-based Boomitra, in collaboration with the Social Carbon Foundation, has announced the first-ever issuance of soil carbon credits from smallholder farms in India. The milestone comes through the URVARA project—short for Unlocking Resilience through Vital Agricultural Regeneration and Adaptation—and marks a new frontier in climate-smart farming.
This pioneering initiative creates a new income stream for over 6,000 Indian farmers while advancing the country’s climate and sustainability objectives. Spanning nearly 50,000 acres across six states, urvara engages more than 12,000 smallholder farmers. The project’s first issuance certifies the carbon-removal benefits of regenerative practices implemented across 25,000 acres, with credits already entering the international voluntary carbon market.
Urvara is the first Indian project certified under the Social Carbon methodology, which recognizes both environmental and social co-benefits in each credit. It now stands as the largest project by volume on the Social Carbon Registry, with over 47,000 credits issued and a projected 315,000 to be delivered over the next two decades.
Boomitra’s satellite and AI-based soil monitoring system eliminates the need for expensive lab tests, making certification accessible even to farmers with plots as small as one acre. This cost-effective model ensures that more of the carbon revenue flows directly to farmers, reinforcing the project’s focus on equity.
Through practices such as reduced tillage, cover cropping, crop residue reuse, and efficient irrigation, farmers are not only enhancing soil health and increasing yields but also gaining access to premium markets for sustainably grown produce.
“This project proves that scalable, tech-enabled solutions can bring real income to rural communities while fighting climate change,” said Aadith Moorthy, founder and CEO of Boomitra.
A 2023 Earthshot Prize winner, Boomitra has already removed over 10 million tonnes of CO₂ globally and supports more than 100,000 farmers across five million acres. The urvara project marks a transformative moment for India’s climate leadership—rooted in regenerative agriculture, powered by innovation, and backed by a California-based climate tech firm.
