Aadi Programme

• Aadi is a farmer carbon programme launched by Grow Indigo in 2019 with technical guidance from ICAR.
• It focuses on regenerative agriculture and generation of agricultural/soil-carbon credits.
• Farmers adopted practices such as:
  • Direct Seeded Rice (DSR)
  • Reduced tillage
  • Crop-residue management.
• These practices help in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and increasing soil carbon.
• The programme links environmental outcomes with additional income for farmers through carbon-credit payments.
• In September 2026, the first soil-carbon payments were made to 2,550 farmers in Punjab and Haryana, with over ₹2.9 crore to be disbursed.
• The Aadi project received approval under Verra’s VM0042 soil-carbon methodology.

Prelims Questions

Q1. With reference to the AADI Programme, consider the following statements:

1.   It is associated with farmers and regenerative agriculture.

2.   It focuses on soil-carbon credits.

3.   It promotes practices such as Direct Seeded Rice (DSR), reduced tillage and crop-residue management.

4.   It is primarily a programme for providing MSP to farmers.

How many of the above statements are correct?

A. Only one

B. Only two

C. Only three

D. All four

Answer: C. Only three

Explanation: Statements 1, 2 and 3 are correct. Statement 4 is incorrect; AADI is associated with regenerative agriculture, soil carbon and carbon-credit payments.