Ex-Investor Helps 27,000 Farmers Restore Land for Profit

Ajay Ram Krishna Ghodham used to watch his family's cotton fields go up in smoke every harvest season. For generations, farmers near Nagpur burned crop residue to clear land, polluting the air and damaging soil for the next planting.

Today, that same waste becomes biochar, a charcoal-like material that improves soil health. The change started when Equilibrium, a carbon removal company, began training farmers to convert residue using simple controlled burning systems.

Siddhanth Jayaram founded Equilibrium after leaving his career as a venture capitalist. COVID-19 made him rethink how he wanted to spend the next 30 years, and he realized he was tired of evaluating other people's climate solutions instead of building one himself.

The shift was harder than expected. Climate action couldn't happen from a boardroom, he discovered. It required sitting with farmers, understanding soil, and building trust over years.

His earlier work at Climes, a climate funding company, revealed the core problem: the carbon market had plenty of demand but few projects that met high standards for transparency and lasting impact. Companies wanted to fund carbon removal, but credible projects were hard to find at scale.

Equilibrium now works with over 27,000 farmers across 30,000 hectares in nine states. The company develops carbon removal projects including agroforestry, mangrove restoration, and biochar programs, then helps companies fund them.

For farmers like Surekha Namdev, biochar has improved crop yields, soil fertility, and moisture retention. Alka Chindan Vishram, who has used it for over a year, now encourages neighbors to try it.

The economics matter as much as the environmental impact. Farmers earn money for participating, crop residue that once went to waste now improves their land, and companies get verified carbon credits they can trust.

The Ripple Effect

India's new carbon market covers 490 industrial units across seven major sectors, all needing credible carbon removal projects. Equilibrium's pipeline includes eight projects covering 120,000 hectares and 150,000 farmers, building the infrastructure to turn climate commitments into real restoration work.

The global carbon market is projected to hit $50 billion by 2030, with over 4,000 companies seeking science-based climate targets. Meanwhile, farmers who once burned their fields are now rebuilding the soil their families depend on.