Carbon Farming

Study day: Carbon Farming

10 April 2019 - Published by Paula Nijman

Last Friday, 5th of April, a study day on carbon farming was organized at Inagro, a practice oriented research institute in the Province of West-Flanders, Belgium. They welcomed mainly interested people from the Netherlands and Belgium, including  farmers, governmental institutions, non for profit organizations, research centers and extension providers. This study day was organized in the frame of the carbon farming project, funded by the European Regional Development fund.

The project aims to enable a transition in the agri-food supply chain throughout the North Sea Region by adopting carbon sequestration (CS) techniques. Carbon sequestration can be a promising technique to reduce CO2 from the atmosphere, with the highest potential for grasslands, but also crop fields can perfectly serve to increase the amount of CO2, through measurements on good soil management.

Carbon farming has many benefits. It allows to restore the organic component of the soil, actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere, increase soil biodiversity and improve the nutrient and moisture capacity for crops. In this way, the agricultural sector has a high potential to contribute to regional and national climate objectives, and to achieving the EU’s commitment under the Paris Agreement on climate change to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% from 1990 levels.

 

During the study day, the participants had a look at the potential of the soil as supplier for ecosystem services, discussed the main attention points and required incentives, and had a look at inspiring business models to make it possible for farmers to generate money out of the extra investments. Besides, they went for a field visit, observing soil profile and the effects of zero tillage, cover crops and controlled traffic farming.

 

Evelien Lambrecht, Business developer, Inagro

 

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