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India
Varaha's project represents a large-scale collaborative endeavor aimed at accelerating the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices among farmers. By integrating regenerative agriculture techniques such as reduced tillage, direct seeding of rice, and thoughtful crop management, the organization strives to combat climate change by curbing greenhouse gas emissions, restoring soil health, and bolstering carbon sequestration.
Before Varaha's intervention, farmers predominantly relied on conventional methods like tillage and burning crop residues, resulting in soil degradation and increased emissions. However, the project not only mitigates these harmful practices but also establishes substantial carbon sinks through soil carbon removal.
Since its launch in June 2019, Varaha and its partners have concentrated their efforts on the rice-wheat cropping system in Punjab and Haryana, India. Now, they are expanding their scope to encompass maize-wheat, sugarcane, and cotton-wheat/cotton cropping systems, integrating cover crops like pulses and mustard. To date, the initiative has successfully engaged over 51,000 farmers, covering 600,000 acres of farmland spread across 7 states in India.