Climate change, strategies to combat and mitigate the problem

The event in Bologna was the scene of a lively discussion among operators, technicians and stakeholders on the topic of global warming and the strategies to be implemented to protect farms against against extreme events and soil impoverishment

Desertification, flash floods, and late frosts: while it is true that climate change is affecting global economies across all business sectors, it is equally true that no industry is paying the consequences like agriculture. The complete effects of extreme events are not in fact immediately visible, since they are also capable of affecting the progress of farming activities in the long term. Take drought for example. The increase in temperatures and decrease in rainfall not only penalize crop yields in specific years, but are reflected in the pedological characteristics of the soil, causing a loss of organic substance and, thus, significant impoverishment of the soil. If the trend is not reversed – this is the warning repeatedly raised by the scientific community – the consequences of such phenomena will be  increasingly amplified and felt over a long period of time. Moreover, according to recent estimates by the FAO, at present more than a third of the world's cultivated surface is in conditions of moderate (8%) or high (25%) degradation, due to salinization, loss of organic matter, and desertification. This means that the global agricultural economy is losing a very significant part of its “green capital” just at the time when global population growth is imposing a significant production strain on the primary sector to satisfy the increasing demand for food.

Conservation agriculture can be a weapon against global warming. The topic, which concerns agricultural economies around the world, was at the center of the Bologna event where stakeholders, public decision makers, technicians and operators in the agricultural and agro-mechanical sectors met. The speakers participated in many events dedicated to the issue of climate, focusing not only on the causes of global warming, the origin of which the scientific community has for a long time now ascribed to human activity, but also on possible strategies to respond and adapt to the new scenario. Moreover, unlike other production situations, Luigi Sartori professor of Agricultural Mechanization at the University of Padua stated during a face-to-face meeting with Davide Gnesini, head of the technical service FederUnacoma, the effects of global warming on agricultural systems are multiple and worrying, starting with the erosion and degradation of the soil due to the alternation of drought and "water bombs", which - said Sartori - erode away the fertile layers. The release of CO₂ from the soil during the mineralization processes of organic matter further contributes to the worsening of the climate crisis. To counteract these effects – explained the university professor – it is possible to adopt conservative agriculture techniques (low input) integrated with precision ones (high technology); these are capable of preserving the structure and fertility of the soil, using machinery and digital technologies that make it possible to rationalize the use of resources such as water and fertilizers. From this perspective, the use of more resistant crop varieties owing to, and therefore more adaptable to, new environmental conditions, falls fully within the actions needed to combat global warming.

Carbon credits are opportunities to be managed. These strategies also include the rationalization and optimization of energy supply sources, as well as carbon capture and storage. The latter – it was stated during the conference entitled “Carbon credits: an opportunity for all sectors” – are essential and complementary to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions originating from fossil and biogenic sources. “Monitoring, reviewing and verifying changes in soil organic carbon stocks and net greenhouse gas emissions – said Michele Pisante of the University of Teramo – are essential to facilitate investments in sustainable practices that maintain or increase soil organic carbon stocks”. “Carbon farming is the set of agricultural practices – explained Angelo Frascarelli of the University of Perugia – that help with the absorption of greenhouse gases in the soil and vegetation”. In addition to constituting a new form of income support for the farmer, carbon farming provides other benefits: resistance to abiotic and biotic factors, soil preservation, reduction of erosion phenomena, increase in crop and soil productivity, and the generation of a high turnover of biomass above and below the soil. Carbon farming not only allows farmers to contribute to climate change mitigation but also increases the resilience of agricultural systems to climate change. Processing and mechanization can significantly impact carbon management. “Combining precision agriculture with conservation agriculture is strategic,” commented Paduan agronomist Lorenzo Benvenuti, “especially if we aspire to exploit the carbon sink in a political and economic manner, as with traceability. The 'carbon sink' is also an opportunity for synecology, fertility, and a reduction of cultivation costs. One way to carbon sink is found in conservation agriculture, which requires minimal tillage, cover crops and a flexible approach”.

The use of biofertilizers to stop soil degradation. The global increase in temperatures and the extreme events associated with it are only the tip of the iceberg, the most evident manifestation of a phenomenon that actually produces cascading effects. They are less visible in some ways, but extremely damaging in the medium and long term. Of particular concern is the aforementioned soil impoverishment, which is removing thousands of hectares from the production cycle around the world. This is precisely why activities aimed at restoring soil fertility play a leading role in actions to combat global warming. From this perspective, decarbonization represents one part of a broader strategy that, in addition to the abandonment of fossil fuels and the increased use of alternative energies, includes a set of actions aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change. The topic received a lot of coverage at EIMA International in the setting of the EIMA Energy Show, thanks to the numerous activities promoted by the Italian Biomass Association (ITABIA). The presentation of two European projects - RuralBioUp and DELISOIL - offered an opportunity to open a discussion among companies, industry associations, research institutions and agronomists, on the development of agri-food residues to be used for the production of innovative soil enhancers for agricultural production and the closure of the fertility cycle. It is essential to overcome the barriers that currently hinder the development of biofertilizers – explained the Italian partners of the European DELISOIL Project (ENEA and the CINSA Consortium of the University of Parma) during the meeting – as well as to promote a supply chain that makes use of waste and closes the cycle by returning nutrients to the soil. The initiatives, funded by the European Commission, are aimed at developing solutions for the treatment and recycling of secondary flows from the food industry, with the aim of introducing natural, renewable and highly effective and high-quality fertilizer products. Particularly interesting in this regard are the results of the European project MULCHING+, which aims to prepare innovative biofilms for soil mulching. This is a highly innovative and sustainable technology derived from cellulose and chitosan enriched with nitrogen and phosphorus, which allows nutrients to be released into the soil through the complete biodegradation of the films. The first tests – it was revealed during the Itabia events – have demonstrated that the biodegradation process ends in less than four months and increases the availability of nitrates and phosphorus by 60%, thereby reducing the need for chemical fertilizer administration.

Agrivoltaics continue to see increased use. On the renewable energy front, in Bologna ITABIA also discussed the great growth opportunity for agrivoltaics in Italy. There are approximately 1.6 million photovoltaic systems in the country and their functional usage in specific agroecosystems is destined to become more widespread thanks to the incentives provided by the NRRP, which has made 1.1 billion available. Agrivoltaics offer important development prospects but – as was mentioned during the workshop on the topic “Mechanization and agrivoltaic systems: problems and opportunities” – it is necessary that the systems (panels and support structures) integrate as well as possible with the crops, the operating machines and the territory. To propose development models, “we need to understand all the effects of agrivoltaics on crops, on the microclimate, on soil temperature and fully understand their usefulness,” said Nicola Colonna, research manager at Enea, called upon to describe the different types of systems in relation to typical Italian crops. According to the speakers Alberto Assirelli, Crea research manager, and Danilo Monarca, professor of agricultural mechanics at the University of Tuscia, it is essential that in agrivoltaic systems, even those extending over tens of hectares, direct interactions are avoided and indirect ones are reduced to a minimum in order not to compromise production, both of crops and energy.