In News:

Amazon has signed a $30 million (?280 crore) long-term carbon credit offtake agreement with the Good Rice Alliance (TGRA) to support sustainable rice farming and methane reduction in India.

Key Highlights:

• The agreement marks one of India’s largest agricultural carbon market deals, with Amazon committing to purchase over 685,000 metric tonnes of CO?-equivalent carbon credits. TGRA—backed by Bayer, GenZero, and Shell—is implementing the initiative across 13,000 small farmers over 35,000 hectares.
• The programme promotes climate-smart agriculture practices such as Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) and Direct Seeded Rice (DSR), which reduce methane emissions and water usage in paddy cultivation. Emission reductions are measured in collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), supported by digital monitoring and third-party verification under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS).
• Since rice cultivation contributes 8–10% of global methane emissions, the initiative has strong climate mitigation potential for India. It also enhances farmer livelihoods through training, financial incentives, improved yields, and reduced input costs, reflecting the growing role of carbon markets in sustainable agriculture.