SOC conservation, not sequestration

At the risk of self-congratulation, let me quote Minasny et al. 2023 - “Soil Carbon Sequestration: Much More Than a Climate Solution” https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.3c07312?ref=PDF ; 

• “/…/ when considering soil, we [Minasny et al.] must shift our focus away from increasing to maintaining SOC stocks and reducing losses. We need to redirect our attention toward ongoing soil degradation /…/ our primary concern should not be the share of GHG emissions that SOC could offset if we increased its stocks; rather, we should emphasize the significant impact by preventing avoidable losses.”

 Polyor SAS’s emphasizes soil organic matter conservation rather than sequestration for methodological reasons. Given that soil carbon stocks & accrual rates are notoriously difficult to monitor precisely at the farm level, and that markets & investor will ultimately demand such precision, brokering such carbon-farming derived C-credits will become increasingly difficult. Minasny et al. 2023’s critique is in a sense even more radical in raising the question of whether SOC sequestration even matters for climate change mitigation. Instead, they point to the colossal SOC sink, and the importance of ongoing emissions of GHG from soil due to anthropogenic use. Thus, their emphasis on SOC conservation rather than sequestration. Polyor SAS’s AgroNum™ approach to SOC conservation through integrated fertilizer management (https://www.linkedin.com/company/polyor-sas/about/?viewAsMember=true) ensures that crop residues contain sufficient nitrogen to be properly humified into stable soil organic matter. To that effect, convenient plot-specific N-fertilizer response curves depict sustainable target yields & their corresponding N-fertilizer application rates. Such sustainable target yields imply that, i) crop residues will not be deprived of the nitrogen required for their transformation into SOC, ii) residual mineral nitrogen in the soil will be minimized, and iii) yield-gap reduction. More so, refundable nitrogen credits in lieu of conventional carbon-credits will be emitted under certain circumstances. Some past Polyor SAS posts emphasizing SOC conservation rather than sequestration; 

• Refundable N-credits for SOM conservation; https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pierre-philippe-claude-31177171_ifrs-issb-sustainableagriculture-activity-7084903135801962496-gxbu?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
• SOM conservation & yield gaps; https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pierre-philippe-claude-31177171_polyor-sas-agronum-activity-7062414573399629825-J8gZ?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
• Sustainable agriculture & conserving SOM ; https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pierre-philippe-claude-31177171_agriculturedurable-activity-7052296367750160384-FbI_?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
• Parlons plutôt de conservation ; https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pierre-philippe-claude-31177171_n-fertilization-for-soil-carbon-sequestration-activity-7021853174034493441-Seow?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop