Carbon farming

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Carbon sequestration in the soil

Carbon farming is a more concrete concept of regenerative agriculture and describes the carbon accumulation in agriculturally used soils through alternative management measures. The basic idea is to return the carbon that humans have brought into the atmosphere back into the soil. Carbon farming falls under the umbrella term of climate farming .

Initial constellation, measures

Intensive tillage , over-management and over-fertilization lead to the release of greenhouse gases bound in the soil . Through measures such as u. a. the reduction of tillage, improved crop rotation , suitable plant varieties or agroforestry , more carbon should be kept in the soil in the long term and returned to it.

Scientific support for "Carbon Farming", projects in the EU

The North Sea region is increasingly suffering from soil degradation and loss of biodiversity due to conventional agricultural production processes. Interreg is currently promoting a partnership between research, consultancies, associations and farms from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Norway to pursue the following activities:

  • Stimulation of farms to adapt "carbon farming";
  • Stimulating partnerships between farms;
  • Presentation of business models for "Carbon Farming".

In Germany, the Thünen Institute and the 3N Competence Center are involved in researching and promoting "carbon farming".

Driven by such projects, there is a discussion at the European level as to how incentives for carbon farming can be implemented politically. As an incentive for farmers, emission certificates issued for carbon sequestration and the certification of products based on "carbon farming" are the focus of the discussion.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Keith Paustian, Johannes Lehmann, Stephen Ogle, Dave S. Reay, G. Philip Robertson, Pete Smith: Climate-smart soils . In: Nature . No. 532 (7597) , April 2016, pp. 49-57 , doi : 10.1038 / nature17174 ( researchgate.net ).
  2. ^ About the project. In: Interreg North Sea Region Carbon Farming. European Commission, accessed on June 9, 2020 .
  3. ↑ European Commission: Carbon Farming Schemes in Europe - Roundtable Background document. 2020, accessed on June 9, 2020 (English).