A recent article in Forbes explores what ways scientists are working on so that agriculture can become part of the climate solution, helping to restore the environment. Their article outlines five particularly promising solutions.
1. Soil Carbon Capture
Regenerating soil could improve its ability to act as a carbon sink, successfully locking in greenhouse gases. Studies have predicted that improving soil and land management, like reducing tillage and increasing nitrogen-fixing legumes, could offset somewhere between five and 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
2. Cover Cropping
One innovative cover cropping technology being explored in the U.S. is CoverCress, originally a Leaps investment that is now majority owned by Bayer. It is a rotational cash crop that combines both grain production and the environmental benefits of a cover crop without disrupting other harvests.
3. Alternative Proteins
In the coming years, more hybrid combinations of plant-based proteins and fermentation-derived proteins are anticipated to reach the market, as a way of solving ongoing changes in taste, texture, and nutritional value.
4. Sustainable Irrigation
Dr. Lorenzo Rosa, a principal investigator in the Department of Global Ecology at the Carnegie Institution for Science at Stanford, highlighted solar-powered drip irrigation systems as an example of a more environmentally friendly technology.
5. Using Biologicals Instead of Synthetic Fertilizers
Fertilizers derived from naturally occurring substances, called biologicals, represents another path to reducing the carbon impact of agriculture. One example is biochar or biological charcoal, which can be made from either human or animal waste and stabilizes carbon, which is released more slowly back into the atmosphere.
For the full article and details on each of these ways agriculture can help solve the climate crisis HERE.
