By André Julião
The conversion of Brazil's native biomes into agricultural areas has resulted in an estimated loss of 1.4 billion tons of soil carbon. This amount is equal to the emission of 5.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) equivalent, a unit of measurement used to standardize the emission of different greenhouse gases, and was calculated based on data collected from studies conducted over the past 30 years.
These findings are from a study published in the journal Nature Communications by researchers from the Luiz de Queiroz School of Agriculture at the University of São Paulo (ESALQ-USP) and the State University of Ponta Grossa (UEPG), as well as Embrapa Agricultura Digital, one of the decentralized units of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA).
The study was conducted as part of the Center for Carbon Research in Tropical Agriculture (CCARBON), a FAPESP Research, Innovation, and Dissemination Center (RIDC) based at ESALQ-USP and coordinated by Carlos Eduardo Pellegrino Cerri, who is also an author of the article.
Recarbonizing farmland to meet targets
The good news is that the researchers estimate that "recarbonizing" about one-third of the country's agricultural land would be sufficient to meet Brazil's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 59% to 67% compared to 2005 levels by 2035.
This goal could theoretically be achieved using sustainable techniques, such as crop rotation, no-till farming, and integrated systems like ICLF (Integrated Crop-Livestock-Forest). Another potential solution is the restoration of degraded pastures, which cover 20 million hectares in the Atlantic Forest alone.
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