What is carbon farming? Which carbon farming practices have the potential to lower greenhouse gas emissions? What obstacles exist for putting these strategies into practice, particularly in developing nations like India? Which international efforts are some of them? Read here to learn more.
Carbon is found in several minerals and all living things. It is essential to all life on Earth and is involved in many different activities, such as respiration, photosynthesis, and the carbon cycle.
Cultivating land, rearing cattle, and/or crops for food, fuel, fibre, and other resources is known as farming.
It includes a broad variety of tasks, such as managing animals, planting and harvesting crops, and upkeep of agricultural infrastructure.
Carbon farming
Carbon farming is an agricultural method aimed at absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in the soil and vegetation.
- This practice is part of a broader strategy known as carbon sequestration, which is critical for mitigating the impact of climate change.
- Carbon farming involves implementing agricultural techniques that maximize carbon uptake in soil, thus reducing greenhouse gas concentrations and enhancing soil health.
The practice of carbon farming integrates two fundamental ideas:
- mitigating climate change through increased carbon storage in agricultural landscapes decreased greenhouse gas emissions, and
- restoring ecosystem health through the application of regenerative agricultural practices that improve fertility and soil health.
Techniques Used in Carbon Farming
Several techniques can be employed in carbon farming to increase soil carbon storage, including:
- Cover Cropping: Planting cover crops like legumes, grasses, or greens in between regular crop cycles to cover the soil. Cover crops help improve soil structure, reduce erosion, and increase soil organic matter, which enhances carbon storage.
- Reduced Tillage/No-Till Farming: Minimizing soil disturbance by reducing or eliminating tilling. Tilling can disrupt soil structure and release stored carbon into the atmosphere, whereas no-till practices help retain carbon in the soil.
- Agroforestry: Integrating trees and shrubs into agricultural landscapes. Trees are highly effective at capturing and storing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and help improve the soil’s carbon content.
- Rotational Grazing: Rotating livestock through different pastures to allow for vegetation regrowth. This method promotes healthier grasslands, which can store more carbon.
- Organic Amendments: Adding compost, manure, or biochar to the soil can increase soil organic carbon levels. These amendments enhance soil fertility and structure, leading to improved carbon sequestration.
- Crop Rotation: Changing the types of crops grown in a sequence to include deep-rooted plants that can sequester more carbon underground.
Benefits of Carbon Farming
- Climate Change Mitigation: By sequestering carbon in soils and vegetation, carbon farming helps lower atmospheric CO2 levels, directly addressing climate change.
- Soil Health: Carbon-rich soils are generally more fertile and better able to retain water and nutrients, which can improve crop yields and reduce the need for chemical fertilizers.
- Biodiversity: Practices such as agroforestry and diversified cropping can increase the variety of habitats available on agricultural lands, supporting greater biodiversity.
- Economic Benefits: Improved soil health can lead to higher yields and lower costs over time. Additionally, carbon farming can potentially generate income through carbon credits.
Challenges
While carbon farming holds great promise, there are challenges:
- Measurement and Verification: Accurately measuring the amount of carbon sequestered and maintaining it over time can be complex and costly.
- Initial Investment: Transitioning to carbon farming practices often requires upfront investment, which can be a barrier for smallholders or economically disadvantaged farmers.
- Policy and Market Support: Effective carbon farming often depends on supportive policies, market mechanisms for carbon credits, and technical assistance to be viable and sustainable.
Carbon farming around the world
Several countries and regions have developed carbon farming schemes to incentivize these practices among farmers and landowners. Here’s an overview of some notable carbon farming initiatives around the globe:
European Union (EU)
- Common Agricultural Policy (CAP): The EU has integrated climate action into its CAP, encouraging farmers to adopt practices that contribute to carbon sequestration, such as cover cropping and reduced tillage. The EU also funds research and development in carbon farming.
- Carbon Farming Initiative: Launched as part of the European Green Deal, this initiative focuses on creating a standard for carbon farming, integrating scientific knowledge, and establishing a certification process for carbon removals.
United States
- USDA Conservation Programs: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers various programs under the Farm Bill that support carbon farming, such as the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). These programs provide financial and technical assistance to farmers adopting sustainable agricultural practices.
- Carbon Markets: Several private and state-level carbon markets exist, where farmers can earn carbon credits for practices that sequester carbon. These credits can then be sold to companies and organizations looking to offset their carbon emissions.
Australia
- Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF): This government initiative provides incentives for farmers and land managers to adopt practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance carbon storage. Participants can earn carbon credits that can be sold on the carbon market.
Canada
- Alberta’s Carbon Offset System: Alberta was one of the first jurisdictions in North America to implement a carbon market that includes protocols for agricultural carbon offsets. Farmers can generate credits by changing tillage practices, managing nitrogen more effectively, or by conserving grasslands.
New Zealand
- Permanent Forest Sink Initiative: This initiative allows landowners to receive carbon credits for establishing permanent forests on marginal lands. It encourages the sequestration of carbon through reforestation and afforestation.
China
- Grain for Green Program: While not exclusively a carbon farming program, this large-scale ecological project encourages farmers to convert degraded cropland into forest or grassland, which indirectly contributes to carbon sequestration.
Global Initiatives
- 4 per 1000 Initiative: Launched during the COP21 in Paris, this global platform aims to increase soil organic matter and carbon sequestration through sustainable farming practices. The goal is to improve food security and combat climate change by increasing soil carbon stocks by 0.4% per year.
How can India use carbon farming?
India, with its vast agricultural landscape and diverse climatic regions, holds significant potential for carbon farming.
By implementing carbon farming practices, India can not only contribute to global climate mitigation efforts but also improve soil health, enhance agricultural productivity, and increase farmer incomes.
- Improving Soil Health
- Practices such as cover cropping, reduced tillage, and crop rotation can significantly increase soil organic matter.
- This not only sequesters carbon but also improves soil structure, fertility, and water retention, leading to more resilient agricultural systems.
- Agroforestry
- Integrating trees into crop systems and pasturelands offers the dual benefit of enhancing carbon sequestration above and below the ground while providing additional income sources through timber, fruit, and other tree products.
- Agroforestry can be particularly effective in regions like the Western Ghats, the Northeast, and along the river basins of India.
- Reforestation and Afforestation
- Initiatives to plant trees on non-arable land, degraded lands, or community forests can capture atmospheric carbon effectively.
- This approach can be tied to national initiatives like the Green India Mission, which aims to increase forest cover and ecosystem services.
- Biomass Management
- Proper management of agricultural residues and livestock manure through composting or conversion to biochar can turn waste into a resource that both enriches soil organic carbon and reduces methane emissions from decomposing biomass.
- Improved Grazing Practices
- Controlled grazing systems can prevent overgrazing, encourage plant growth, and lead to more carbon being stored in the soil of pasturelands.
- This is particularly relevant in areas like Rajasthan and Gujarat, where pastoralism is a key part of rural livelihoods.
- Rice Cultivation Techniques
- Implementing alternative wetting and drying (AWD) in rice cultivation can reduce methane emissions and water usage while maintaining yield.
- This practice has significant potential in major rice-growing states like West Bengal, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu.
- Use of Organic Fertilizers
- Encouraging the use of organic fertilizers over chemical ones can help enhance soil carbon content. Initiatives to promote the production and use of compost and other organic fertilizers can be critical.
Conclusion
The initiatives vary widely in scope and approach but commonly include financial incentives for carbon sequestration, technical support for adopting new practices, and frameworks for measuring and verifying carbon storage.
As climate change continues to be a critical global issue, the role of agriculture in carbon sequestration is likely to expand, prompting further development of carbon farming schemes across the world.
Overall, carbon farming is a powerful tool in the arsenal against climate change, capable of transforming agricultural practices into part of the solution. By promoting such practices, there is potential not only to reduce the impact of agriculture on the environment but also to enhance its resilience to climate change.
Previous years questions
Q. Which of the following statements best describes ‘carbon fertilisation’? (2018)
(a) Increased plant growth due to increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
(b) Increased temperature of Earth due to increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
(c) Increased acidity of oceans as a result of increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
(d) Adaptation of all living beings on Earth to the climate change brought about by the increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Q. Which one of the following statements best the term ‘Social Cost of Carbon’? (2020)
It is a measure, in monetary value, of the –
(a) long-term damage done by a tonne of CO2 emissions in a given year.
(b) requirement of fossil fuels for a country to provide goods and services to its citizens, based on the burning of those fuels.
(c) efforts put in by a climate refugee to adapt to live in a new place.
(d) contribution of a person to the carbon footprint on the planet Earth.
Related articles:
- Agri-food policies for Soil, water, air and biodiversity
- Green agriculture
- Carbon offset
- Carbon trading
- Zero carbon buildings
-Article by Swathi Satish
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