Présentation IIRB 2024 M.Campoverde R.Duval

1. Marisol Campoverde (1), Rémy Duval (2),
(1) ARTB, Association de Recherche Technique Betteravière, 45 rue de Naples, F – 75008 Paris
(2) ITB, Institut Technique de la Betterave, 45 rue de Naples, F – 75008 Paris
1
How can sugar beet crop management contribute to improve
the field cropping systems carbon footprint?
79th IIRB Congress, 27-28 feb. 2024, Brussels

2. 2
1. Context
2. Key points of carbon balance establishment in field cropping systems
3. Analyse sugar beet crop carbon balance : evaluate the impact of levers applied to the crop and its
economical approach
Standard cases
4. Experimental platform in Champagne
Presentation content
79th IIRB Congress, 27-28 feb. 2024, Brussels

3. 11,6%
4,7 Gt
3,2 Gt
Context
French target for agricultural sector:
- target 2030: -22 % of total emissions (in t eq CO2,), 2015 reference
- target 2050: -46% (réf. 2015)
Following current line, projection = -5% in 2030 (France)
Infographie MAA 2022
agriculture targets in France
79th IIRB Congress, 27-28 feb. 2024, Brussels
3

4. Low Carbon agriculture – voluntary market and French low carbon
label (“Label Bas Carbone”)
Industrial sector
Agricultural sector
Label Bas Carbone
ETS EU system
Voluntary carbon
compensation market
Projet
collectif
Private finance
Project leader
Farmers
Official calculation rules
Method LBC for field crop systems
International standards
(Verra, Gold-standard…)
79th IIRB Congress, 27-28 feb. 2024, Brussels
4

5. 5
Low Carbon Field Crops method (LC-FC) – Main characteristics of the
calculation
Soil Organic Carbon storage
Reference crop system
Project duration
(5 years)
Certified emission
reductions
time
GHG emissions
Certified emission
reductions
time
 Both Soil C storage AND Green House Gas emissions have to be calculated!
 Low carbon agriculture needs to be designed at field cropping system scale: scale of LC-FC method calculations
Crop1 Crop2 Crop3 Crop4 Crop5 Crop6 Crop7
intercrop intercrop intercrop
Project duration
(5 years)
 LC-FC method
 is based on scientific “up to date” equations and models
 includes verification data and control procedure
 describes a range of positive contribution indicators to evaluate projects completely
79th IIRB Congress, 27-28 feb. 2024, Brussels

6. 6
UPSTREAM emissions DOWNSTREAM emissions
At Field scale
GHG emissions
𝐸𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 = 𝑬𝑹é𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 + 𝑬𝑹 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 + ( 𝐸𝑅𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚)
Emissions from mineral and
organic fertilisers production
- N2O emissions linked with N
fertilisation,
- N2O emissions from crops and
cover crop residues
- CO2 emissions reductions (fuel)
Soil C storage GHG emissions at storage
(on farm drying)
C sequestration
N
Field Cropping method (LC-FC) – Contributing issues taken into account
79th IIRB Congress, 27-28 feb. 2024, Brussels

7. 7
541
898
210
393
105
397
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
Emissions (in kg eq CO2)
N fertilisation
N in residues
Traction energy
N fertilizer production
Field direct emissions
Indirect emissions (losses)
Leaves N content
Cover crops N content
Fuel consumption
∑ = 2544
3000
1464
-4692
-5000
-4000
-3000
-2000
-1000
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
Soil C storage (in kg eq CO2)
Soil annual mineralisation
Soil sequestration from cover crops residues
Soil sequestration from leaves residues
4464 – 4692 = -228
Field Cropping method (LC-FC) – orders of magnitude, example of
Sugar Beet
79th IIRB Congress, 27-28 feb. 2024, Brussels

8. 8 79th IIRB Congress, 27-28 feb. 2024, Brussels
Reduce the dose of mineral N (monitoring
tools, etc)
Introduce nitrogen-fixing legumes or
crops/varieties with a lower nitrogen
requirement
Use of lower emitting forms of fertiliser
Liming of acidic soils
Use of nitrification inhibitors
Tilling in of organic and mineral inputs
•Machinery
•- Simplification of tillage, change to direct
sowing, …
•- Eco-driving, electric motorisation, etc
•- Irrigation: choice of less energy-intensive
equipment
Drying and storage of field crops
- Reduce the energy consumption of the
farm’s drying and/or storage system
Increase the amount of biomass returned
by plant cover
- Including or extending plant cover in the
rotation patterns
Increase in crop residue returns
- Return of residues, increase in biomass
production per unit of surface area.
Increase in the inputs of amending or
fertilising
- Livestock effluents
- Composts
- Urban and industrial waste
- Digestates, etc
Crop rotation patterns
Inclusion and extension of temporary and
artificial leys
Downstream activities
Reduce fossil fuel consumption associated
with drying in storage facilities
Fossil fuels Biomass Organic fertiliser
Fertilisation
Reduction in GHG emissions Carbon storage in the soil
Levers recorded by Field Crops Standard

9. 9
79th IIRB Congress, 27-28 feb. 2024, Brussels
Studied sugarbeet areas
CENTRE - VAL DE
LOIRE
MARNE - AUBE
ILE DE FRANCE-
YONNE
PICARDIE
Each area has different
sugarbeet practices !

10. The « Picardie » study case : Baseline scenario
Agricultural Area 156 ha
Winter wheat 47 %
Sugarbeets 24 %
Potatoes (irrigated) 17 %
Rapeseed 6 %
Winter peas 3 %
Winter barley 3 %
Conventional system - Deep loam soil
Initial carbon footprint of
the cropping system
Standard cropping system considered
Soil Carbon Storage (negative in this case!)
GHG
emissions
Net balance
ER
tCO
2
eq/year

11. 11
The « Picardie » study case : carbon footprint improvement
79th IIRB Congress, 27-28 feb. 2024, Brussels
- -

12. 12
Reduction of 24 kg of nitrogen solution
Organic Fertilizer : application/transport
Cost of ammonitrate -> 15 % + expensive than nitrogen solution
Nitrogen solution
by ammonitrate
Cattle manure
(22 t)
Represents a cost reduction
Represents an additional cost
Reduction of 20 kg of mineral N
Cost of common vetch -> 14% less expensive
than white mustard
Cover mixture
-11 %
10 %
90 %
WARNING !
Price reference : 2023
Costs may vary due to price variations +
Exchange between farmers lowering costs
TOTAL COSTS
394,5 EUR/ha (beets)
79th IIRB Congress, 27-28 feb. 2024, Brussels
Economic costs of low- carbon lever application

13. 13 79th IIRB Congress, 27-28 feb. 2024, Brussels
Overall results (all 4 areas studied)

14. 14
Levers evaluation in “real life” : example of Syppre and Terrasolis
experimental platform in Champagne
14
79th IIRB Congress, 27-28 feb. 2024, Brussels
Winter
wheat
Winter
wheat
Hemp
Winter
barley
Cover
crop
Cover
crop
Cover crop
Winter wheat
Cover crop
Cover
crop
Spring
barley
Winter peas
Rape seed
Sugar
beet
Sugar
beet
Terrasolis Low carbon system
Syppre
system

15. 15
 Low carbon systems should be conceived at crop system scale
 Both carbon storage and GHG emissions have to be calculated
 It is possible to reduce the carbon footprint of sugar beet by 28%
 However, there is a cost to be covered, there are still questions about the sources of funding
79th IIRB Congress, 27-28 feb. 2024, Brussels
Conclusions
Thank you for you attention!
Marisol Campoverde, mcampoverde@artb-france.com
ARTB, Association de Recherche Technique Betteravière, 45 rue de Naples, F – 75008 Paris
Rémy Duval, duval@itbfr.org
ITB, Institut Technique de la Betterave, 45 rue de Naples, F – 75008 Paris