Nearly 5,000 visitors and representatives from 40 countries that were part of the 7th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture had the opportunity to learn about the Life + Climagri Project and the results related to mitigation and adaptation to climate change after two tilling seasons. During four days, three posters were hanging in the room next to the auditorium in which the World Congress was held, showing information about the project itself, the fixation potential that the Conservation Agriculture management techniques have reached and that have been verified thanks to the development of this initiative within the Life program, and how, the achieved results, can help achieve the objectives set by European policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lead to a productive model which is resilient and reduces carbon.
Thus, the first poster showed the decalogue of good management practices applied in the European network of demonstration farms established within the framework of the project, and the results related to the increase in carbon sequestration (30%) and reduction in energy consumption obtained using No-tillage management practice (20%), and the best production obtained under a deficit irrigation strategy (6%).
The second poster was focused on the potential that Conservation Agriculture has in Spain in order to fix atmospheric carbon and thus create a valid tool for the sink activity. The conclusion shows that, if No-tillage and Groundcovers were supported by agri-environmental helps similar to those used by ecological agriculture in the Regional Programs of Rural Development, the amount of fixed Carbon would be up to three times greater than the current one.
In the last poster was explained how sustainable land management was implemented in different European policies and initiatives, highlighting how, despite the existing scientific evidence on the benefits that are produced with sustainable land management, production systems based on tillage still prevail in Europe. As a consequence, the work concludes that more institutional support is necessary to encourage the practice of Conservation Agriculture.