AgroNum : SOC permanence !
PERMANENCE: Last but not least, the issue of permanence can plague carbon-farming & sequestration efforts. For instance, see Dynarski et al. 2020 (https://lnkd.in/g-cpXaBY) or again Paul et al. 2023 (https://lnkd.in/gBdx3HwY). Bluntly, Paul et al. 2023 state that; “While increasing SOC is a cornerstone for more sustainable cropping systems, private carbon certificates fall short of expectations for climate change mitigation as permanence of SOC sequestration cannot be guaranteed.”
A solution to lack of permanent soil carbon sequestration as an outcome would be to guarantee dedicated nitrogen inputs as a means of SOC conservation, or even build-up in carbon-depleted soils. Polyor SAS’s AgroNum™ approach to sustainable agriculture & soil conservation (https://lnkd.in/ghvQgxPN) does just that. Modified cropping practice that generate sufficient supplementary nitrogen to increase yield without depleting cellulosic crop residue of the nitrogen needed for their humification into stable soil or matter (C/N ≈ 10) will be allocated (refundable) nitrogen-credits.
AgroNum is thus a precise & convenient alternative to conventional carbon-farming that must quantify, not only the amount of carbon sequestered, but also its permanence as a function of its often poorly estimated mean residence time. AgroNum’s insistence on providing a means to, rather than a guarantee of, SOC conservation is in itself a paradigm shift worth considering. Put simply, the said supplementary N-credits as a “means to” can be quantified & monitored much more precisely than SOC stocks as an “outcome of” carbon-farming.
✔ For lack of SOC permanence, AgroNum refundable N-credits (https://lnkd.in/ghvQgxPN) are emitted annually and thus ensure a perennial input of nitrogen dedicated to the humification of crop residues into stable SOC.
