LIFE Agromitiga: development of climate change mitigation strategies through carbon-smart agriculture

Abstract

In agricultural systems, one of the most relevant natural resources for fighting climate change is soil, thanks to its potential to capture CO2 from the atmosphere. Proof of this is that soil, with three times more carbon than the atmosphere, is recognized as the second largest stock of Carbon (C) on the planet after the oceans, in addition to constituting one of the most important components of the biosphere, for its provision of ecosystem functions and services. Some agricultural practices, such as Conservation Agriculture, can increase carbon sequestration in soils. Therefore, this practice is considered by the 4per1000 initiative as one of the most effective practices to mitigate climate change. On this basis, LIFE Agromitiga, a European project financed by the EU LIFE Program, will promote a low-carbon agricultural system to battle climate change from the agricultural sector, through the use of Conservation Agriculture, providing validated results applicable to EU commitments on global climate alliances. To do so, LIFE Agromitiga will carry out the implementation of Conservation Agriculture practices at 3 scales (pilot, regional and transnational scale). Therefore, a Demonstration Farm Network will be established, which will include more than 35 farms, in countries such as Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal, in which techniques such as no tillage and groundcovers will be monitored, as well as the amount of carbon that each practice would produce. It is expected that, thanks to the implementation of LIFE Agromitiga project, a methodology for quantifying C footprint during the cultivation period of crops in different soil management systems will be developed. As a consequence of the proposed methodology, environmental policies in the EU on climate change and agriculture could be developed and promoted. Another result will be a report on how to increase the carbon sink in soils while reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions in the project area, which will be useful for international commitments like the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Sustainability Development Goals, among others. It is expected to increase the soil carbon sink by 1 Mg ha-1yr-1 in both annual and permanent crops. Therefore, a technological tool will be created, which will enable stakeholders, including farmers and technicians, to evaluate its practices regarding carbon sequestration in agricultural soils. Since Conservation Agriculture improves soil quality, leading to an optimized use of inputs (including Nitrogen fertilizers), resulting in lower emissions, energy savings and energy efficiencies superior to conventional agriculture, it is expected to achieve energy savings of around 30% in the crop rotations. Energy productivity is expected to increase by 50% and fuel consumption would drop by half.