Afforestation has been widely identified as the most affordable way to mitigate the worst effects of climate change by sequestering carbon and making ecosystems more resilient. However, developing countries like India have to deal with rising population and urbanization, often at the cost of its ecology. We propose that significant increase in afforestation and carbon sequestration can be achieved by shifting areas under crop cultivation to mixed variety afforestation. Private land can be diverted from crop cultivation to achieve afforestation targets. We suggest combining two existing Government of India schemes to ensure monthly payments to individual farmers for shifting away a portion of paddy cultivation, for a period of seven years in the state of Assam in India. Our calculations show that this model can increase average farm incomes through income transfers during the growth phase, along with net carbon sequestration. Varied maturity periods and uses of timber and non-timber forest produce will sustain farmer incomes beyond the initial support period and allow for increased forest cover and carbon sequestration over large areas in Assam, without putting any additional pressure on the exchequer.