Periodic Reporting for period 1 - AgriCapture (Developing EO-powered services to promote soil carbon sequestration through regenerative agriculture)
Período documentado: 2021-01-01 hasta 2021-12-31
Regenerative agriculture is a holistic farm management approach that, among other goals, actively promotes healthy soils.
Pioneering farmers and scientists have shown that a regenerative approach can result in more resilient and cost-effective agriculture, and thus represents an effective approach to help climate-proof farms. At the same time, regenerative agriculture can contribute to significantly lowering farm emission: decreasing use of high-emission inputs, and increasing carbon stored in agricultural soils to provide a stable and natural carbon sink.
Despite the large potential benefits to society and the environment, there are many barriers for farmers to adopt sustainable or regenerative farming. For example, they must learn about and implement new practices, and likely require additional investments.
To reward regenerative practices and incentivise more widespread adoption, there are a number of financial schemes that can benefit current regenerative farmers and incentivise future regenerative farmers: issuing and selling carbon credits, certification schemes to increase sale prices of their products, government agri-environmental schemes, lower farm insurance and loan rates, etc.
All of these financial schemes require precise and reliable estimates of soil carbon content and other properties overtime. However, this is currently unavailable on a large scale. Measuring soil properties is difficult, expensive, and has low precision. Similarly, farmers require support to assess the effect of farm management choices on their resources, and new tailored tools to help them with tactical and strategic decision-making.
The EU-funded AgriCapture project responds to this fundamental need for simple, precise and low-cost tools to support adoption and scaling of regenerative agriculture.
The project will develop a systematic, robust and flexible platform for quantifying, verifying and supporting regenerative practices that result in soil carbon capture. We strongly leverage satellite data as well as farmer participation to ensure accuracy, cost-effectiveness and value to end-users. The results will benefit farmers and food companies, as well as allow certifying of organisations to scale up and automatise their processes.
AgriCapture will co-develop the platform together with key stakeholders (farmers, cooperative, agri-processors, agri-food companies, public bodies, certification agencies, etc.) in five use-cases from across Europe. We will also engage the larger farming ecosystem to facilitate knowledge exchange and to promote our results. Dedicated business planning activities will result in the launch of operational services by the end of the project.
Pioneering farmers and scientists have shown that a regenerative approach can result in more resilient and cost-effective agriculture, and thus represents an effective approach to help climate-proof farms. At the same time, regenerative agriculture can contribute to significantly lowering farm emission: decreasing use of high-emission inputs, and increasing carbon stored in agricultural soils to provide a stable and natural carbon sink.
Despite the large potential benefits to society and the environment, there are many barriers for farmers to adopt sustainable or regenerative farming. For example, they must learn about and implement new practices, and likely require additional investments.
To reward regenerative practices and incentivise more widespread adoption, there are a number of financial schemes that can benefit current regenerative farmers and incentivise future regenerative farmers: issuing and selling carbon credits, certification schemes to increase sale prices of their products, government agri-environmental schemes, lower farm insurance and loan rates, etc.
All of these financial schemes require precise and reliable estimates of soil carbon content and other properties overtime. However, this is currently unavailable on a large scale. Measuring soil properties is difficult, expensive, and has low precision. Similarly, farmers require support to assess the effect of farm management choices on their resources, and new tailored tools to help them with tactical and strategic decision-making.
The EU-funded AgriCapture project responds to this fundamental need for simple, precise and low-cost tools to support adoption and scaling of regenerative agriculture.
The project will develop a systematic, robust and flexible platform for quantifying, verifying and supporting regenerative practices that result in soil carbon capture. We strongly leverage satellite data as well as farmer participation to ensure accuracy, cost-effectiveness and value to end-users. The results will benefit farmers and food companies, as well as allow certifying of organisations to scale up and automatise their processes.
AgriCapture will co-develop the platform together with key stakeholders (farmers, cooperative, agri-processors, agri-food companies, public bodies, certification agencies, etc.) in five use-cases from across Europe. We will also engage the larger farming ecosystem to facilitate knowledge exchange and to promote our results. Dedicated business planning activities will result in the launch of operational services by the end of the project.
The main results so far include:
-Organised three webinars, including the launch of the European Regenerative Agriculture Community.
-We have published a policy brief on the topics of regenerative agriculture and carbon credits.
-Completed the first version of the AgriCapture platform.
-Started use case activities based on detailed plans covering >10.000 ha, implementing: new regenerative practices on farms, installation of field sensors, training and support to farmers, collecting soil samples, etc.
-Measured the emissions footprint of 26 agri-food organisations and farms.
-Contributed to the review process for a VCS-certified methodology for assessing soil carbon capture and issuing carbon credits.
-Laid the foundation for a carbon credit reward programme to be launched soon in the UK.
-Launched the project website and promoted the project to a wide international audience, including at a dedicated AgriCapture side-event at COP26 in Glasgow.
-We have launched business planning activities and have published the first market analysis and business report.
-Organised three webinars, including the launch of the European Regenerative Agriculture Community.
-We have published a policy brief on the topics of regenerative agriculture and carbon credits.
-Completed the first version of the AgriCapture platform.
-Started use case activities based on detailed plans covering >10.000 ha, implementing: new regenerative practices on farms, installation of field sensors, training and support to farmers, collecting soil samples, etc.
-Measured the emissions footprint of 26 agri-food organisations and farms.
-Contributed to the review process for a VCS-certified methodology for assessing soil carbon capture and issuing carbon credits.
-Laid the foundation for a carbon credit reward programme to be launched soon in the UK.
-Launched the project website and promoted the project to a wide international audience, including at a dedicated AgriCapture side-event at COP26 in Glasgow.
-We have launched business planning activities and have published the first market analysis and business report.
The monitoring and incentive frameworks that underpin climate action require effective monitoring, verification and reporting tools. In agriculture, this is notoriously difficult to do particularly with regards to the status and changes of soil. Although there are multiple solutions at various degrees of maturity that aim to address these problems, in practice there is little that has made its way to Europe’s farms and fields.
AgriCapture will develop and commercialise highly-scalable services that:
-provide a simple, low-cost and precise estimation of soil carbon changes overtime.
-simplify farmer certification by remotely verifying on-farm practices
-support farmers to assess the costs and benefits of adopting specific regenerative practices on their fields
-provide timely and tailor-made advisory services to regenerative farmers
The platform provides us with a farmer-centric approach to address several barriers to adoption of regenerative practices on a large scale, and to thus empower cooperatives, businesses, and other organisations promoting their uptake.
As such, AgriCapture will provide a set of added-value services that make regenerative agriculture easier and cheaper, and can contribute to and accelerate the digital and green transformation of the agriculture sector.
AgriCapture will develop and commercialise highly-scalable services that:
-provide a simple, low-cost and precise estimation of soil carbon changes overtime.
-simplify farmer certification by remotely verifying on-farm practices
-support farmers to assess the costs and benefits of adopting specific regenerative practices on their fields
-provide timely and tailor-made advisory services to regenerative farmers
The platform provides us with a farmer-centric approach to address several barriers to adoption of regenerative practices on a large scale, and to thus empower cooperatives, businesses, and other organisations promoting their uptake.
As such, AgriCapture will provide a set of added-value services that make regenerative agriculture easier and cheaper, and can contribute to and accelerate the digital and green transformation of the agriculture sector.