For at least a decade, implementing low-carbon agricultural practices in Brazil has been the basis for developing research, technical assistance, and incentive programs for increasingly sustainable, competitive, and resilient agricultural production.
Established within the framework of the National Policy on Climate Change, the Sectoral Plan for Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change for Consolidating a Low Carbon Economy (or ABC Plan) represents Brazil’s willing commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, undertaken on the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15).
Through the ABC Plan public policy, ABC technologies* have been implemented on more than 54 million hectares in the country. This was accomplished due to the integration of science and technology efforts, resulting in research that provided a consistent and robust basis for the recommended technologies; technical assistance, which played a key role in disseminating knowledge, offering technical support, and encouraging the implementation of low-carbon farming practices; and rural credit, which is an operational mechanism to foster the financing of agricultural production focused on emissions mitigation and climate adaptation while remaining productive, sustainable, and profitable.
ABC technologies represent innovative production alternatives based on soil and water conservation, good animal and crop management practices, animal waste treatment and reuse, retention of carbon in the soil with increased organic matter, and implementation of more balanced production systems. These practices aid environmental conservation and offer significant economic benefits for the producers who implement them.
Thus, the use of ABC practices promoted by the ABC Plan and the results achieved in its ten years of enactment attest to Brazil’s commitment to innovation and sustainable production. By integrating the essential actions of science, technology, and technical assistance, the country is investing in climate change mitigation and strengthening its competitiveness and resilience in food production for the world. Implementing ABC technologies is a reality and paves a promising path towards a future in which socio-economic development and the conservation of natural resources are allies.
ABC technologies: low-carbon agriculture technologies, or “tecnologias de agricultura de baixo carbono” (ABC) in Portuguese.
Bárbara Evelyn Magalhães Silva
Coordinator of the Rural Landscapes Project at the National Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock