Portal de Murcia
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During the meeting at the University of Murcia, the partners of this pioneering action in Europe for carbon capture, presented the progress of the first eight months of the project and ended the day with a technical visit to two of its experimental plots.
Murcia, one of the most arid and hot regions of Spain, has an ideal scenario to put into practice certain measures of adaptation to climate change that can be monitored and applicable to the rest of the Mediterranean area.
With this objective, the Murcia project AMDRY C4, financed by the Environment and Climate Action Program (LIFE) of the EU, is responsible for analyzing the capacity of rainfed crops as potential carbon sinks, at the same time study how regeneration of these same soils occurs.
In this way, the ecosystem service of natural capital is evaluated, as well as the fight against desertification of Mediterranean dryland agricultural soils.
To examine the suitability of this initiative, the Project has four experimental areas where cereal, almond or esparto grass has been cultivated.
Esparto, for example, has the capacity to absorb between 80 and 300 tons of CO2 per hectare per year.
The plant remains distributed by the plots are also used in the form of compost, with which the soils receive an extra supply of nutrients.
María José Martínez, Project Manager and professor of the Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Geology and Edaphology, of the University of Murcia, explained during the meeting that: "a series of measurements of the ecosystemic parameters of the soil will be made before and after the performance with which we will have real indicators such as the capacity of the soils to capture carbon, humidity or filtration level, etc. Some measurements will be made in the laboratory and others on the plots, with a system of drones equipped with infrared cameras ".
With these data, the cost of each land can be quantified with the aim of also putting it on the international carbon market.
After the meeting, we proceeded to visit two of the experimental sites, located in Nogalte (Lorca) and Corvera (Murcia).
Once there, Asier Rodríguez, technical supervisor of the LIFE funds, was able to check the progress of the plantations together with the rest of LIFEAMDRYC4 members, belonging to the Office of Socioeconomic Promotion of the Environment (OISMA) of the Autonomous Community;
the agrarian organization Coag;
the Engineering Company of the Natural Environment and the New Culture for Climate Association (NCC).
The farmers in charge of the care and cultivation of these plots, highlighted their enthusiasm before an initiative that: "also tries to fix the population in rural areas and generate local green jobs".
The Project is part of the International Initiative: 4/1000: Soils for food security and climate.
Throughout its 52 months of work, the AMDRYC4 partners will offer tools for the transition to a productive, resistant agriculture, adapted to rainfed crops and that generates jobs and income.
In summary, we will know, through its results, new practical solutions for the necessary adaptation to climate change in the Mediterranean area.
Source: Universidad de Murcia
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