"Mr Satyanarayana’s idea is that it brings together JK’s need for raw material, vacant land that is going to ruin, poor farmers desperate for sustainable income,with  the global demand for industry to offset its carbon emissions, and the World Bank’s commitment to encouraging‘clean development’ initiatives."

Click Here to View the Article

Click The World Bank issued a press release on the occasion of signing of Emission Reduction Purchase Agreement (ERPA) for India-Improving Rural Livelihoods Project  with VEDA and JKPL on 8 May,2007

The five-year project envisages reforestation of 3,500 hectares of degraded lands in these districts. It aims at removing carbon dioxide in these areas and studying how these activities generate high-quality greenhouse gas emission removals that could be measured and monitored.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/03/20/stories/2007032004961100.htm



TODAY'S PAPER » NATIONAL » ANDHRA PRADESH

VISAKHAPATNAM, December 27, 2012

Carbon revenue cheques presented to farmers

In what is said to be for the first time in Asia, carbon revenue cheques were distributed to 52 farmers at GITAM University here on Wednesday by its president M.V.V.S. Murthi on Wednesday.

The cheques were distributed at a meeting organised jointly by VEDA Climate Change Solutions Ltd (VCCSL), JK Paper Mills Limited (JKPL) and GITAM Center for Integrated Rural Development (CIRD) under Improving Rural Livelihood Project.

“This is the first project in Asia to release the revenue to the farmers as part of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),” a GITAM release stated.

The project has been conceptualised, developed and implemented by VCCSL in partnership with JK Paper Mills of Rayagada and BioCarbon Fund of the World Bank with the technical support of GITAM CIRD.

Briefing about the project, VCCSL executive director Sai Kishore said they motivated the poor farmers to raise tree plantations on highly degraded agricultural lands in AP and Odisha.

He said that initially they selected Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts in AP and Koraput, Kalahandi and Rayagada districts in Odisha.

Total 1,590 farmers involved in this project and cultivated 1607.7 hectares of wasteland in both the States. 

THE TIMES OF INDIA

Visakhapatnam

Carbon credits yield AP ryots a fortune

Dec 27, 2012, 06.47AM IST

VISAKHAPATNAM: In 2007, P Narsimharaju of Garudabili had never heard of carbon credits. Neither had he heard of earning revenue by just growing trees. Unable to capitalise on the 60 acres of degraded land that he owned in Anantagiri Mandal of Visakhaptnam district, Narsimharaju was facing an uncertain future.

However, after becoming part of a programme developed by Veda Climate Change Solutions Limited (VCCSL) to sell carbon credits, his fortunes changed. Half a decade later he has banked in Rs 1.63 lakh for growing eucalyptus and an additional Rs 28 lakh for selling the wood to a paper mill.

Narsimharaju is not alone. He is among 1500 farmers owning 1600 hectares in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa that claim to have become the first lot of farmers in Asia and the second in the world to rake in the moolah by selling carbon credits.

The 1,500 farmers of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Rayagada, Koraput and Kalahandi in Odisha earned Rs 85.28 lakh by selling 79,811 carbon credits, for which they received their cheques on Wednesday at a programme organised at Gitam University in the city.

Expressing his happiness on receiving the cheque, Narsimharaju said, "We'll continue to be part of the project in the coming years." The farmers were part of a project aimed at improving rural livelihoods through carbon sequestration by adopting environmental friendly technology based agro-forestry practices in partnership with Biocarbon Fund of the World Bank.

Another farmer, Shanmukha Rao D of Vizianagaram, who earned around Rs 58,000 conceded that the going was tough and said that support in the form of providing manure and technical support is needed to sustain the effort.

According to VCCSL executive director Sai Kishore Nellore, the project was initiated in 2004 with the intention of improving the lives of farmers in rural areas by allowing them to raise tree plantations on highly degraded agricultural lands. Following that, a project idea note was prepared and subsequently a team from the World Bank visited the country for inspection in 2006. "We conceptualised the idea and wanted to contribute globally by using a local platform," Nellore said.

During the next year, VCCSL entered into an Emission Reduction Purchase Agreement (ERPA) with the World Bank for sale of carbon credits generated under this project at $4.05 per carbon credit. Each carbon credit is equal to one tonne of carbon dioxide sequestered.

With the project implemented successfully, Nellore said the next plan was to grow mango and cashew by including 2,500 farmers with 2159 acres in the state. On the one hand, it will prevent monoculture crop and on the other it would help them test different levels of carbon sequestration that can be achieved by growing variety of trees.

While growing trees earned them carbon credits, selling the wood after a period of five years to paper mills helped them earn additional income. M V Ramana Murthy, manager (plantation) of J K Paper Limited, said, "Farmers are receiving a net benefit of Rs 3,000 per tonne of eucalyptus grown. This is excluding transport." Also, J K Paper Mill Limited provides high quality plant species throught its plantation research centre.



https://youtu.be/hbvgpNLQdtc