EIP-AGRI workshop ‘Towards carbon neutral agriculture’

The EIP-AGRI workshop ‘Towards carbon neutral agriculture’ was initially planned to take place in Estonia on 9-10 September 2020 but it was postponed due to the pandemic caused by COVID-19.

The workshop took place online on Wednesday 24 - Thursday 25 March 2021

The final report of this workshop has now been published.

This event was by invitation only, applied through an open call for expression of interest.

This interactive event was dedicated to networking and sharing existing experiences among projects addressing innovative solutions, farm systems and practices contributing to the optimisation of carbon balance in the European farming systems. The topic of the workshop is highly relevant to the main political priorities of the Commission and in particular the European Green Deal initiative aiming at climate neutrality by 2050.

Further information below.

Workshop documents

• Programme
• Speaker and facilitator bios
• List of registrations
• Final report

Presentations & Videos

Day 1: Wednesday 24 March 2021

Part I: Starting our journey together

• Welcome and introduction – Maria Angeles Benitez Salas, Deputy Director General at DG Agriculture and Rural Development: video
• Welcome by Pacôme Elouna Eyenga – Team leader, EIP-AGRI Service Point: video
• Overview of policy priorities and initiatives – Susana Gaona, Research Programme Officer, DG AGRI: presentation - video

Part II: Looking into solutions

Overview of GHG emissions and sinks in agriculture and dimension of their fluxes: Ana Marta Paz, EIP-AGRI Service Point: presentation - video

Inspiring examples of diverse production methods that seek carbon neutrality:

• Permanent crops: Liliana Fernández Pérez, Viticulturist Manager, El Hato y el Garabato vineyards (ES): presentation - video
• Annual crops: Tõnis Ajaots, agronomist at Rannu Seeme family farm (EE): presentation - video
• Intensive livestock: Harry Kager, strategic advisor on sustainable agriculture at Schuttelaar & Partners (NL): presentation - video
• Mixed systems and extensive livestock: Jacopo Goracci, farm manager at Tenuta di Paganico (IT): presentation - video

Day 2: Thursday 25 March 2021

Part III: Boosting implementation

Inspiring examples of implementation of carbon neutral agriculture:

• Juuso Joona, farm manager at Tyynelä farm; member of the board at the carbon action platform (FI): presentation - video
• Franky Coopman, farm advisor at INAGRO, project partner in INTERREG NSR Carbon Farming (BE): presentation - video

Closing words: Kerstin Rosenow, Head of Unit B2 – Research and Innovation, DG AGRI: video

Extra videos

You can also watch the full event in half-day recordings if you prefer, find the links below:

• Day 1 (morning) - video
• Day 1 (afternoon) - video
• Day 2 (morning) - video

Further information on the theme of the workshop

Participants included farmers and farmers' organisations, foresters, researchers, EIP-AGRI Operational Groups, SMEs, advisers, universities, research and technology organisations, rural networks, and others involved in relevant projects or with experience in designing and/or implementing innovative solutions, farming systems or practices contributing to the reduction of carbon footprint of the agricultural sector across Europe.

Scope and objectives

Agriculture and climate change are closely interlinked. On the one hand, agriculture is one of the main sources of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), two greenhouse gases, but at the same time it holds a great potential to sequester and store carbon in plants, trees and soils. A more carbon neutral agriculture is possible, if proper farm management practices are adopted to optimise the carbon balance in farming systems. These can include for instance practices aiming at reducing livestock CH4 emission, practices that result in a reduced use of farm inputs (e.g. fuels, pesticides, fertilisers) or practices that help keep carbon stored in soils. 

The focus of this workshop was on the transition to carbon neutrality in agriculture, through: 

• Soil, crop and livestock management practices that keep and increase carbon in soils.
• Farm management practices, such as mixed farming, agro-forestry, agro-ecology and organic farming that promote the diversification of farming systems and that bring other environmental benefits, such as increased biodiversity, both in the short and long term.
• Livestock production that minimises carbon or methane emissions (e.g. extensive systems, manure management). 
• Resource efficiency in agriculture, in particular in relation to the use of fertilisers, plant protection products, energy and other farm inputs (e.g. fuel consumption).
• Methods and tools to assess carbon emissions and sequestering at farm level. 

Furthermore, conclusions from the workshop aim at promoting the adoption of these practices on the ground, which might be also favoured by the Green Deal and future CAP Strategic Plans and by Horizon Europe, due to the potential of these practices to contribute to achieving the CAP’s cross-cutting objectives and improve the resilience and environmental, social and economic performance of the farming system. 

Overall aims of the workshop

The overall aim of the workshop was to promote networking among EIP-AGRI Operational Groups and other innovative projects dealing with practices towards a more carbon neutral agriculture. This means to learn more about each other, find common issues, share good practices and innovations and explore possibilities for future collaboration and knowledge exchange. The event also aimed at promoting the adoption of carbon neutral farming practices that also bring other environmental benefits, such as increased biodiversity, both in the short and long term. Finally, the workshop provided a space for stakeholders to propose and discuss future research needs in this area.   

Specific objectives of the workshop

The specific objectives of the workshop were:

• identifying common challenges, barriers, drivers and incentives
• exploring potential solutions to shared challenges 
• exchanging good practices and analysing their success factors
• connecting participating projects to promote further co-operation
• understanding the elements required to boost the implementation of practices and solutions and improve the innovation support environment