Certification of carbon dioxide sequestered on farms – a relatively new topic, but with future prospects. After the difficult first step, does everything go downhill? We talked about many aspects of certification with Łukasz Żurawiecki, Key Account Manager from Agreena, which runs a coal program addressed to farmers.
Conscious farmers willingly use certification
Practices favoring the sequestration of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in soils may be a source of additional income on farms from the sale of the so-called carbon certificates. Which farmers are most likely to seek new horizons for their farms in this way? We asked Łukasz Żurawiecki from Agreena about it.
– These are conscious farmers who are looking for innovation, simplification of work, additional earning opportunities, running both smaller family farms and very large holdings. The cross-section ranges from 100 hectares to 20-30 thousand hectares – said Łukasz Żurawiecki in an interview with the farmer.pl portal.
The hardest first step
However, as is often the case with new products, this system may arouse distrust.
– Farmers are asking themselves: where is the catch? The implementation of certain agrotechnical practices itself is not that difficult, but the most difficult thing is to decide to switch to such agriculture – said Łukasz Żurawiecki.
However, Łukasz Żurawiecki argues that the benefits of changes and joining the certification system are significant.
– After several years of such practices, the farmer has much higher yields per hectare than before, and secondly, he can benefit from various types of subsidies. One of such subsidies is our Agreena Carbon Program, through which we promote such agriculture, support farmers and have money allocated to them as a reward. Our program is free and very flexible. Farmers can join or leave the program, add or remove a field, or change practices at any time. Of course, they will see how the number of certificates changes. If they choose less regenerative practices, they will have less of them. If they are more regenerative, they will have more certificates – said Łukasz Żurawiecki.
What carbon farming practices are most frequently implemented?
After this difficult first step, which is the decision to join the certification system, adapting agrotechnical practices is less of a problem.
– Very often farmers already use such practices and there is no need to change anything, just monetize them – pointed out Łukasz Żurawiecki.
As Łukasz Żurawiecki points out, the easiest action to sequester carbon in soils is to leave crop residues and manage them appropriately.
Our interlocutor’s second priority was to change the tillage system from traditional plow tillage to simplified, no-plough tillage, and less often direct sowing.
The third most common activity undertaken by farmers is the cultivation of catch crops and cover crops and the use of organic and natural fertilizers on farms that have such possibilities.
You can watch the entire conversation with Łukasz Żurawiecki from Agreena in the video below:
– .
