Climate-smart agriculture ‘faces severe challenges without #glyphosate’

One area that is often overlooked is agriculture. In the European Union alone, agricultural activities generated 470.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2012, corresponding to about 10% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While agriculture is clearly a big part of the problem, new research shows that it can also be a part of the solution, turning agricultural soils into a carbon sink instead of a source of CO2 emissions.A new report by the European Conservation Agriculture Federation (ECAF) found that a production system called Conservation Agriculture (CA) can sequester almost 200 m tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere across the EU annually, equivalent to closing 50 coal-fired power plants. Conservation Agriculture involves three key principles: minimum soil disturbance (no-tillage), permanent organic soil covers through crop residues or cover crops, and practising rotation or diversification in annual crops. The combination of these methods results in greater yields, fewer inputs, greater biodiversity, improved soil structure, reduced CO2emissions, carbon sequestration, less water run-off and greater profitability for farmers.The EU will host a critical vote on the re-authorisation of glyphosate on 9 November. If it fails, the huge potential of Conservation Agriculture to mitigate the negative effects of climate change is put at risk.According to Basch: “If glyphosate is banned, we lose the most effective tool in the box for farmers wishing to be more environmentally sustainable and forcing our farmers to return to less climate-smart practices.