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Zornoza asks the leaders to meet at the Climate Summit measures to promote CO2 sinks that store large amounts of carbon dioxide, eliminating emissions into the atmosphere
Researchers from the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT) have managed to reduce CO2 emissions by 10% in almond and citrus plantations in the Region of Murcia.
They are doing it through the European Diverfarming project, which is coordinated by Raúl Zornoza, researcher Ramón y Cajal of the UPCT.
In that sense, they are making measurements on greenhouse gases on diversified farms in the Region to define strategies to mitigate climate change.
According to the data available so far, almond fields generate average CO2 emissions of 400 mg / m2 and hour.
These places have included more sustainable practices such as reduced and shallow plowing and street crops, such as thyme, tápenas or oatmeal / vera, so that emissions have been reduced to 340 mg / m2 and hour, which means a decrease of them between 10 and 20%.
In areas where citrus fruits are grown, however, more CO2 emissions have been detected.
This is due, Zornoza explains, because they are irrigated crops and "there is more moisture in the soil that leads to more microbial activity that releases gases into the atmosphere."
They have detected an average of 900 mg / m2 and hour of CO2 emissions and by introducing legume and barley plantation into the streets of these crops, a decrease in emissions has been achieved to 800 mg / m2 and hour , which means a 10% reduction.
The measurements are being carried out on a weekly basis in plots located in districts of Murcia, mainly between Sucina and Cabezo de la Plata.
Researchers are detecting peaks in times when there are sharp increases in temperature, times when the land is carved and removed or when nitrogen fertilizers are used in crops.
To achieve this, they propose practices such as the diversification of crops or the introduction of other types of crops to prevent the release of greenhouse gases in the streets of crops such as almond or citrus.
The objective of these studies, funded by the European Union (GA 728003), is to see if the gases emitted into the atmosphere can be mitigated and contribute through more sustainable agriculture practices to the «CO2 sequestration in the soil».
Zornoza, from the UPCT Soil Management, Exploitation and Recovery research group, explains that this can be achieved by adopting crop systems and management practices that use the soil as a carbon sink, since the soil is the second system on the planet with greater capacity to store carbon after the oceans.
"Soil is a well managed resource that can help mitigate climate change by storing high amounts of CO2 that are not released into the atmosphere," he says.
Due to the low carbon content in the soils of the Region due to the management practices of recent decades, its potential to "sequester carbon in soils" is very high.
Regarding the United Nations Conference on climate change (♯COP25) held today in Madrid under the slogan 'It's time to act', the researcher asks the leaders not only to focus “on reducing the rates of emissions to mitigate climate change but include measures to promote carbon sinks ».
According to the most recent research "these can store large amounts of CO2, eliminating those from the atmosphere, such as forest masses and soils."
Source: UPCT
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