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Case Study: Market Access

Nitrous Oxide Emission Reduction Protocol

Farming First Farming First

At the Hague conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change, Farming First held a side event ‘Best practices in agricultural value chains’, where spokespeople presented examples of initiatives that aim to increase resilience and productivity at different points in the value chain.

 

NERP

Clyde Graham from the Canadian Fertilizer Institute introduced the Nitrous Oxide Emission Reduction Protocol (NERP), which helps reduce on-farm emissions of nitrous oxide in a quantifiable and verifiable way that allows farmers to earn carbon credits. It has been approved in the Canadian provine of Alberta – the first jurisdiction of North America to actively regulate greenhouse gas emissions and establish a regulatory carbon trading market.

NERP is based on applying fertilizer using Best Management Practices on the 4R nutrient stewardship system: Right source, @Right rate, Right time, Right place.

The scheme has shown a 15-25% reduction in nitrous oxide emissions from fertilizer application, and has also managed the risk of nitrate accumulation in soils. NERP meets the high production, intensified, resilient, sustainable and low-emission criteria of the FAO description of climate-smart agriculture. In the future, NERP could be adapted to be an eco-level and become an internationally recognised standard.

To read more, see the presentation.

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