| | 31/May/23
| | The corporate agenda behind carbon farming Across the global South, companies are taking over large areas of land to establish tree plantations and claim carbon credits that they can sell on international carbon markets. In countries where industrial agriculture dominates, such as the US, Brazil or Australia, “carbon farming” is about tweaking entrenched practices to claim that carbon is being sequestered in the soil and to then sell carbon credits. This form of “carbon farming” is also now starting to be pushed onto smaller farmers in parts of the global South, such as India. A programme promoted by the global seed and pesticide giant Bayer provides an example of how “carbon farming” is being used to advance the agendas of agribusiness corporations. To be part of Bayer’s Carbon Program, farmers have to be enrolled in Bayer’s FieldView digital agriculture platform. Bayer then uses the FieldView app to instruct farmers on the implementation of two practices that are said to sequester carbon in the soils: 1) reduced tillage or no-till farming and 2) the planting of cover crops. Through the app, the company monitors the implementation of these practices and estimates the amount of carbon that participating farmers have sequestered. Farmers are then supposed to be paid according to Bayer’s calculations and Bayer uses that information to claim carbon credits and sell these in carbon markets. It’s not clear if farmers will gain anything. A joint press release from Bayer and a collaborator, the giant poultry company Purdue Farms, says only that farmers “may be compensated for tracking their carbon footprint”. On the other hand, farmers could be penalised for not enrolling. Those who do not enrol may find themselves unable to sell soybeans and maize to Purdue, or they may be paid less by Purdue for their crops. GRAIN Italy: Committees vote for new GMO field trials In Italy, the environment and agriculture committees in the Senate have voted unanimously for an amendment to the so-called "Drought Decree" that would allow new GMO field trials. The Director of Center for Research on Agriculture of the Ministry of Food Sovereignty has expressed jubilation, as has the Confagricoltura (industrial agriculture lobby). It's a first for Italy, which has never before allowed GMO field trials. The amendment text still has to be voted on by the plenary so it may be defeated. Centro Internazionale Crocevia We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible by readers’ donations. Please support our work with a one-off or regular donation. Thank you! __________________________________________________________ Website: http://www.gmwatch.org
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