The University of São Paulo (USP) inaugurated, on June 6, the building of the CCarbon Administrative Center – Center for Carbon Studies in Tropical Agriculture. The new headquarters is located at the Luiz de Queiroz campus, in Piracicaba, and consolidates the center’s activities, whose mission is to develop innovative solutions in sustainable carbon -based tropical agriculture, focusing on mitigating climate change and improving quality of life.

Coordinated by Professor Carlos Eduardo Pellegrino Cerri, from the ESALQ/USP Soil Science Department, CCarbon is one of the nine Centers linked rectory of USP, which features FAPESP funding through the Centers of Research, Diffusion and Innovation (Cepid) program and other public and private institutions. The goal is to act transversely in several Brazilian biomes, promoting low -carbon agricultural practices and expanding the use of sustainable technologies in the countryside.

“The big challenge we have today is to continue producing food, fiber, energy, paper and pulp, conserving and restoring natural resources, with less greenhouse gases and greater carbon sequestration. We have worked strongly on three fronts: research, dissemination of knowledge and technological innovation. It is essential that the results come out of paper and reach producers, agricultural areas, with scale. The ideal place for this, ”said Professor Cerri during the inauguration.

Still for the coordinator, CCarbon/USP is relevant to the country as it has generated research, innovation and disseminating strategies and initiatives that contribute to actions to adapt and mitigate climate change focused on agriculture, livestock, forestry and conservation/restoration of native vegetation in Brazil.

To achieve the objectives of CCarbon/USP, strategic, multidisciplinary and innovative research lines will cover five large areas: soil, plant, animal, atmosphere and digital tools. The center will also be inserted into an innovation ecosystem to support discoveries and new technologies through institutional-private partnerships. “We draw multiple strategies of active dissemination of knowledge and innovations, contributing to farmers and stakeholders to adopt more sustainable practices, and make the population aware of the theme and support the elaboration of public policies,” Professor Cerri told SBCS.

Professors from left to right (Pedro Brancalion – Director of Innovation Ccarbon; Thais Vieira (Director of Esalq); Carlos Cerri (CCarbon coordinator); Carlos Carlotti Junior (Rector of USP) Maurício Cherubin (Vice Coordinator and Research Director Ccarbon) and Tiago Ferreira (director of CCarbon dissemination)

DAccording to Professor Cerri, CCarbon/USP, along with other public and private institutions in Brazil has been working on the construction of an increasingly improved agricultural system, which should be based on decarbonization, based on the circular economy, and aim:

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and waste disposal;
Increase carbon sequestration (C);
Develop new cultures with greater biomass and performance and more resilient to natural adversities;
Improve the living conditions of the human being in terms of socially and culturally diverse communities.
Advances for Soil Science

For Professor Maurício Cherubin, a partner at SBCS and who is also ahead of the center, researchers are working intensively for CCarbon/USP to become a center of excellence in the carbon theme in agriculture. “We have more than 70 associated researchers from USP and various other institutions from Brazil and abroad, 100 more scholarships, undergraduate to postdoctoral, and many partner institutions in Brazil and abroad.”

Also according to Maurício Cherubin, the group of researchers have been advancing in this Front of Research, Dissemination and Innovation. “Our goal is to work on the three fronts, seeking to develop solutions that help Brazil reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase C sequestration in vegetation and soil, making more productive, sustainable and resilient ecosystems (natural and agricultural),” he said.

For CCarbon/USP researchers, the challenge for the coming years will be to face the frequency of extreme climate events, such as dry, full and other natural adversities compared to low resilience of natural and agricultural systems, while promoting the transition to new agricultural technologies and increasingly sustainable production processes. Therefore, the adoption of soil management good practices and Earth’s sustainable use strategies may not only increase carbon sequestration, but also significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere and at the same time improve soil health and the resilience of agricultural systems.

Get to know the products already developed.

As an example of the work developed at CCarbon, Professor Cherubin highlights some advances of the center in the area of ​​soil health:

SOHMA KIT DEVELOPMENT A portable, cheap and simple to use for soil health assessments directly in the field.

Preparation of the first soil health map of Latin America and the Caribbean, uniting remote sensing expertise, data processing, machine learning and soil health.

Advances in field studies to prove the importance of regenerative agriculture practices to improve soil health and thus promote increased productivity and resilience of production systems.

Structuring Brazilian Soil Health Partnership, a national alliance with 50 researchers from all regions of the country, created with the objective of promoting the soil health agenda in Brazil.

The details of CCarbon projects and fronts can be checked on the site, and on the center’s social networks.

Article produced from information from the USP Journal