Department of Agriculture studies Greenhouse Gas Balance in soybean production areas in RS

The coordination of the State Steering Committee of the ABC+ RS Plan, in partnership with Emater/RS-Ascar, began this week collecting data from the project “Greenhouse Gas Balance in Soy Production Areas in Rio Grande do Sul”. The development of the project will make it possible to estimate the net carbon balance based on an internationally renowned methodology for quantifying greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, known as the GHG Protocol. Data collection lasts until May, with 216 soybean producers located in 36 municipalities with the greatest representation of the crop in the state.

“The development of this project is very important for the state, as it will demonstrate with data that soybean production has low carbon emissions”, highlights the forestry engineer from the Department of Agricultural Development and Research (DDPA) at Seapi and coordinator of the Committee , Jackson Brilliant. According to him, to obtain carbon balance estimates, information will be collected from the producer, such as soil preparation methods, presence of cover crops, crop rotation, use of bio-inputs, crop rotation, consumption of fuel for mechanized operations and production transportation. “This way, we will be able to estimate the carbon balance per ton produced (ton of CO2 eq./ton of soybeans)”, says Brilhante. The study will also evaluate the quality of the direct planting system in the state.

“This work carried out jointly between the Secretariat and Emater will allow the quantification of the carbon balance on properties with soybean cultivation and thus allow us to at least maintain consumer markets”, highlights Elder Dal Prá, coordinator of Plant Health Defense at Emater. According to him, this is still the beginning of work that will result in other actions, such as raising awareness among farmers and improving production systems.

According to DDPA zootechnician Carolina Bremm, deputy coordinator of the ABC+ Plan Management Committee, the project will result in an x-ray of the areas where soybeans are integrated with beef and dairy farming. “We will collect information on pasture management, animal stocking and herd structure, which will make it possible to characterize and estimate the carbon balance of the most representative production systems in our state,” she says.