By Abbas Nazil
Louis Dreyfus Company has launched a major regenerative agriculture initiative in Uttar Pradesh, India, aimed at improving soil health, reducing carbon emissions, and producing lower-carbon wheat for customers seeking to address Scope 3 emissions.
The project, one of the first of its kind in the Global South, is expected to remove around 6,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year while promoting regenerative wheat cultivation across more than 2,000 acres of farmland.
More than 430 farms rotating rice and wheat have enrolled in the program so far, implementing new farming practices designed to eliminate the common practice of burning leftover stalks after the rice harvest, which traditionally releases stored carbon and contributes to local air pollution.
Farmers participating in the project use specialized seeding machinery that shreds leftover stalks and reincorporates them into the soil while simultaneously planting wheat seeds, reducing soil disturbance and boosting soil carbon content.
This dual approach enhances soil fertility, minimizes carbon release, and contributes to a net reduction of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
The project’s climate benefits will be independently verified under an established Verra carbon credit methodology, ensuring that both carbon removals and regenerative farming practices are credible and traceable.
Varaha, a company working with smallholder farmers across Asia, manages the project’s implementation, including soil sampling, monitoring, and tracing the regeneratively grown wheat from farm to warehouse to ensure transparency and accountability.
Digital tracking includes farm-level photos and geostamps, documenting the specific farms and methods used, allowing Louis Dreyfus to market the wheat as a verified lower-carbon product and sell it to customers willing to pay a premium for more sustainable wheat.
Louis Dreyfus has committed to purchasing five years’ worth of carbon removal credits to cover the costs of transitioning farmers to regenerative practices, including machine rentals and ongoing support.
Madhur Jain, CEO of Varaha, emphasized the importance of maintaining the program over several years to achieve permanent changes in farming practices, noting that farmers are likely to see yield increases and reduced input requirements after four years of consistent regenerative practices.
The initiative also allows farmers to benefit financially, receiving 60 percent of the revenue generated from carbon credits, creating both environmental and economic incentives for sustainable agriculture.
Louis Dreyfus highlighted that this project provides a blueprint for embedding climate-positive practices into agricultural supply chains while demonstrating the potential for carbon finance to transform farm practices.
By combining regenerative techniques, carbon credit incentives, and digital tracking, the project aims to set a precedent for sustainable farming in India and the Global South, offering verified carbon removals and improved agricultural productivity.
This project underscores the potential of insetting initiatives to reduce emissions within a company’s own supply chain, strengthen resilience, and deliver measurable environmental and social benefits to local farmers while addressing climate change challenges.
The program, set to continue through 2030, could extend beyond the initial five-year period if successful, with soil carbon storage potentially peaking over the next two decades, securing long-term climate and agricultural benefits.
