A new €1.4 million project has been launched to measure carbon harvesting potential of Irish soil.
The project led by VistaMilk, aims to help Irish farmers move to more climate-friendly agricultural systems. Under the Climate Action Bill, the Irish agriculture sector will face binding targets for the reduction of emissions as Ireland moves towards being carbon neutral in 2050.
By capturing the carbon sequestration – the process of capturing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it in plant material – soil health can be improved. Researchers will use the new €40 million National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory, established late last year by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
“This builds on our investment to date in measuring the emissions and opportunity for removals through our soils and hedges and is a critical step in developing opportunities that encourage and reward farmers capturing carbon,” said Charlie McConalogue, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Dr Karl Richard and Prof Gary Lanigan will lead the four year project to explore the impacts of farm management practices on a variety of soil types. VistaMilk, the Science Foundation Ireland research centre focused on agriculture, is working on the project with Dairy Research Ireland, the group that allocates funding from the dairy levy collected from Irish dairy farmers.
LSL News.