Research shows potential of coffee farming for carbon balance

Research supported by the Regional Cooperative of Coffee Growers in Guaxupé (Cooxupé) highlights the carbon balance on coffee farms with a focus on encouraging sustainability and good agricultural practices. Conducted by Renata Ribeiro do Valle Gonçalves and João Paulo da Silva, from the Center for Meteorological and Climatic Research Applied to Agriculture at the State University of Campinas (Cepagri/Unicamp), the study is linked to the Coffee Change project, which promotes sustainable advances in coffee culture. grain.

So far, research has detected that coffee crops sequester carbon, just like a forest, and retain it in the soil for 15 years. Beforehand, the study also helps coffee producers identify where they emit the most carbon to make this reduction, in addition to confirming that maintaining organic matter in the soil is fundamental to this balance.

Carbon balance

According to the researchers, the objective is to identify effective practices to achieve the goal of zeroing the carbon balance in coffee farming. As well as ensuring environmentally responsible production. To support the research, Cooxupé initially provided five farms structured in Gerações, its own sustainability protocol, for research.

Then, the researchers used a soil database with around 1.800 properties in the south of Minas Gerais and generated a curve that demonstrates the relationship between carbon in the soil and the age of the coffee. In the third stage, the cooperative selected another 11 farms of varying sizes, which are also part of the Gerações Protocol.

Hardware

To calculate the curve between carbon in the soil and the age of the coffee, the study uses the GHG Protocol Tool (Greenhouse Gas Protocol). It is a global standard for measuring, managing and reporting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in an efficient and transparent manner, thus contributing to the mitigation of global climate change.

According to Cepagro, the methodology was developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). In this sense, it is widely used by companies, governments and research institutions to calculate the GHG emissions of a location.

Brazilian environment

Due to the agricultural vocation and complex environmental structure that is different from Europe, there was a need to build a tool that considered the particularities of the Brazilian tropical agricultural environment.

“So, in partnership with WRI Brasil, Embrapa and Unicamp entered into a partnership to build a tool that considers the balance of emissions in agricultural activities within the gate. In addition to the variations and particularities of the Brazilian tropical environment. Then, the need arose to make a specific adaptation for coffee growing, considering the farming processes. Such as, for example, the processing and particularities of the plant’s growth in relation to other species”, explained João Paulo, from Cepagri.

In coffee farming, the tool can be adapted to take into account the particularities of agricultural activities, such as the use of fertilizers, soil management practices and emissions associated with the cultivation and processing of crops.

Sustainable practices

For the president of Cooxupé, Carlos Augusto Rodrigues de Melo, participating in the research is helping to find more effective practices for coffee plantations to reduce the carbon balance among their more than 19 thousand members.

“Our role as a cooperative is to encourage sustainability on the properties of our cooperative families. Participating in a study as important as this one is demonstrating our commitment to producing high-quality coffee. In fact, in line with market and consumer expectations, always looking for sustainable techniques”, concluded Melo.

The researchers' work continues and, after its final result, it should help coffee growers in making decisions in the field.