One thousand five hundred farmers in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa claim to be the first in Asia and the second in the world to earn considerable income selling carbon credits.

P Narsimharaju of Garudabili is one such farmer who has earned Rs 1.63 lakh (USD 2,960) for growing eucalyptus trees on his 60acres of previously degraded land.

The Times of India explains how the farmers were part of a project developed by Veda Climate Change Solutions Limited aimed at improving rural livelihoods through carbon sequestration. They adopted environmentally friendly agroforestry practices in partnership with the Biocarbon Fund of the World Bank.

In additionmto carbon credits, the farmers also earned income from selling the wood to paper mills after a period of five years. The carbon credits generated under this project were sold at $4.05 per tonne of carbon dioxide sequestered.

The article looks in further detail at how the project was initiated in 2004 in order to improve the lives of farmers in rural areas by allowing them to raise tree plantations on highly degraded agricultural lands.

The next step is to engage 2,500 farmers in growing mango and cashew on 2159 acres to test different levels of carbon sequestration with different varieties of trees.

Read the full story: Carbon credits yield AP ryots a fortune