Projects Detail - Sustainable Farming & Water Management

The Sustainable Farming & Water Management Project is helping paddy farmers across Andhra Pradesh cut water use and methane emissions.

Paddy farming faces declining soil health, erratic rainfall, and high input costs. Traditional transplanted rice and intensive tillage degrade soil, consume excessive water, and generate high methane from flooded fields. This project introduces three practices that change that:

Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) — fields flood and partially dry before re-flooding, significantly cutting methane without reducing yield

Direct-Seeded Rice (DSR) — seeds sown directly instead of transplanted, reducing water use and labour

Reduced tillage — less soil disturbance preserves soil structure and microbial health

Each farmer selects the combination best suited to their local conditions. 65% of project costs flow directly to farmers through carbon credit revenue share, AWD pipe subsidies, onboarding fees, agro-consulting, and capacity building.