Sustainable agricultural practices: key to boosting the decarbonization of agriculture in the Americas

Alessandra Fajardo, directora de Alianzas de la Cadena de Valor Alimentaria para América Latina de Bayer, y Carlos Cerri, profesor de la Escuela Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz de la Universidad de São Paulo, visitaron la sede central del IICA, en San José, donde se reunieron con el Director General del Instituto, Manuel Otero, y mediante en encuentro virtual presentaron los hallazgos de PRO Carbono al director del C-MASC, Rattan Lal. — Alessandra Fajardo, Bayer’s Director of Food Chain Partnerships for Latin America, and Carlos Cerri, Professor of the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture at the University of São Paulo, visited IICA Headquarters in San Jose, and presented the findings of the PRO Carbon program.

San Jose, 8 August 2023 (IICA). Adopting agricultural practices in synergy with the native vegetation of the land, accompanied by sustainable agricultural practices, such as direct seeding, crop rotation and the planting of cover crops, will enable countries to make significant headway in moving towards agricultural decarbonization and protecting the health of soils, which are a critical resource for agricultural production and global food security.

Bayer is one of the main partners in the Living Soils of the Americas initiative, which has been spearheaded by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Rattan Lal Carbon Management and Sequestration Center (CMASC) at the Ohio State University, which is managed by renowned U.S. scientist, Rattan Lal.

The Living Soils of the Americas program is based on various pillars. One of them is the implementation of regenerative agricultural practices to promote soil health, through sustainable actions to improve soil fertility, while increasing its water retention capacity and reducing erosion. The second pillar focuses on carbon measurement and carbon capture in agriculture, seeking to assist farmers to understand and measure the carbon emissions that they generate, as well as to promote emission reduction methods.

This has been borne out by the PRO Carbon initiative, implemented by Bayer, which is the first commercial program in integrated low-carbon agricultural practices. The initiative has extended to Argentina and Brazil, where it has involved more than 2,000 farmers (1,800 in Brazil and 200 in Argentina), providing them with the requisite tools and knowledge to drive sustainable production and reduce environmental impact. This not only benefits individual farmers, but also contributes to natural resource preservation and climate change mitigation at the global level.

Alessandra Fajardo, Bayer’s Director of Food Chain Partnerships for Latin America, explained that, “We have assisted more than 2,000 farmers to implement agricultural best practices to increase soil carbon and are cultivating approximately 200,000 hectares using these practices. We have conducted fertility and carbon analysis of these soils and after three years we have seen increased accumulation of carbon in the soil through the application of direct seeding, crop rotation and practices that lead to improved soil health”.

“We collect soil samples under different conditions involving changes in land use and the adoption of regenerative agricultural practices to see which of these could be used to restore soil carbon”, added Carlos Cerri, Professor at the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture at the University of São Paolo (USP), who is part of the scientific-research team of the program.

“Contar con el apoyo del sector privado es fundamental; debe participar activamente junto con los agricultores, los responsables de políticas públicas y la comunidad científica para adoptar prácticas que reduzcan las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero, mejorar el secuestro de carbono y mitigar el cambio climático. Los suelos son parte de la solución para la seguridad alimentaria y ambiental”, comentó al director del C-MASC, Rattan Lal. — According to CMASC Director, Rattan Lal, “Private sector support is essential. The sector must play an active role, alongside farmers, public policy makers and the scientific community, to adopt practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve carbon sequestration and mitigate climate change. Soils are part of the solution to ensure food and environmental security”.

Complementarity

Since 2020, IICA and CMASC have been undertaking the Living Soils of the Americas initiative, partnering not only with companies, such as Bayer, but also with the ministries of Agriculture of Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay.

According to CMASC Director, Rattan Lal, “Private sector support is essential. The sector must play an active role, alongside farmers, public policy makers and the scientific community, to adopt practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve carbon sequestration and mitigate climate change. Soils are part of the solution to ensure food and environmental security”.

“That is why Bayer is part of this alliance and why we believe so much in Living Soils of the Americas, because we feel that this is a solution and the way to decarbonize agriculture”, added Alessandra Fajardo of Bayer.

More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int