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Best agricultural practices for Climate Change: Integrating strategies for mitigation and adaptation (Life+ ClimAgri)
Start date: Jun 1, 2014, End date: Dec 31, 2018 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Background According to the European Environment Agency, agriculture is the fourth highest greenhouse gas emitting sector in the EU, accounting for 9.9% of GHG emissions in 2011. The agricultural sector, moreover, is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Consequently, the sector faces the challenge of mitigating climate change and adapting to the new scenarios that emerge as a result of global warming. One of the challenges of CAP 2020 is to take full advantage of the potential of agriculture to mitigate climate change and adapt to its consequences, as well as to increase the positive contribution the sector makes towards enhancing energy efficiency and carbon capture and sequestration. To achieve this outcome, European authorities must be informed about the mitigation and adaptation practices that have already been studied on an experimental level in order to validate them jointly in pilot demonstrations. Objectives The aim of this project is to demonstrate the viability and environmental benefits of agricultural management systems for irrigated farming in the Mediterranean Basin based on integrated climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. Specifically, the project aims to: Define monitoring indicators; Implement measures on 12 farms in four Member States (three per country): France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. These farms will form a ‘European Network of Demo Farms’ that will serve as a platform for coordinating measures and sharing results, findings and good practices; Create a GIS (geographic information system) software tool for the efficient working of this network; and Draw up a guide of good agricultural practices based on the results and findings of the project. Expected results: Reduction of energy consumption by 20% due to the following actions: o Implementaton of efficient fertilisation practices. o Implementation of efficient phytosanitary products. o Elimination of the tilling. Reduction CO2 emissions from energy use by 20%; Reduction CO2 emissions from soils by at least 40%; Reduction N2O emissions by 35%; Increase the carbon sinking capacity of the cultures implemented by at least 35%; Improve knowledge about the distribution of organic carbon in soils depending on the management technique used; and Procedure a handbook with technical recommendations for adopting the best agricultural practices that simultaneously mitigate climate change and allow farms to adapt their crops to the climate scenarios expected.

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