Center for Carbon Research in Tropical Agriculture (CCARBON)

• Grant number: 21/10573-4
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers - RIDC
• Duration: September 01, 2023 - August 31, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Soil Science
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Eduardo Pellegrino Cerri
• Grantee: Carlos Eduardo Pellegrino Cerri
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Pesquisadores principais: Fabio Ricardo Marin ; Fernando Dini Andreote ; Fernando Luis Cônsoli ; Flávio Augusto Portela Santos ; Heitor Cantarella ; Helaine Carrer ; Joaquim Bento de Souza Ferreira Filho ; Luiz Carlos Estraviz Rodriguez ; Maurício Roberto Cherubin ; Thais Maria Ferreira de Souza Vieira ; Tsai Siu Mui
• Associated researchers: Adibe Luiz Abdalla ; Alan Joseph Franzluebbers ; Antonio Augusto Franco Garcia ; Antonio Carlos de Azevedo ; Carlos Alexandre Costa Crusciol ; Carlos Augusto Colombo ; Carlos Guilherme Silveira Pedreira ; Catarina Barbosa Careta ; Celso Omoto ; Cimélio Bayer ; Edmilson Moutinho dos Santos ; Ernani Pinto Junior ; Gerd Sparovek ; Italo Delalibera Júnior ; Jean Pierre Henry Balbaud Ometto ; Joao Roberto Spotti Lopes ; José Alexandre Melo Demattê ; Klaas Metselaar ; Luis Eduardo Aranha Camargo ; Miguel Cooper ; Paulo Mazzafera ; Pedro Henrique Santin Brancalion ; Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues ; Sila Carneiro da Silva ; Silvia Regina Galleti ; Suzana Caetano da Silva Lannes ; Thiago Libório Romanelli ; Tiago Osório Ferreira
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/05538-0 - IMPACT OF ORGANIC CARBON FRACTIONS ON SOIL STRENGTH MECHANISMS, BP.IC

Abstract

Brazil is one of the world's largest producers and exporters of food, feed, fiber and (bio)fuel. Estimates indicated that the country would need to increase food production in 40% to meet global demands by 2050. Meanwhile, tropical agricultural systems have to be important allies to sequester carbon (C) and reduce greenhouse gases emission, and consequently, contribute to mitigating climate changes. Therefore, the challenge is to increase agricultural production reconciling environmental, social and economic sustainability. In this context, we propose the creation of the Center for Carbon Research in Tropical Agriculture (CCARBON), hosted at ESALQ/USP, one of the most respected Agricultural Colleges worldwide. The CCARBON mission will be to develop innovative solutions and strategies on carbon-based sustainable tropical agriculture to mitigate climate change and improve living standards and conditions. Our vision is to be recognized as a world-class leader center on low-C tropical agriculture and qualification of human resources through research, innovation, and dissemination activities. To achieve the CCARBON goals, strategic, multidisciplinary and innovative research lines will cover five major areas: soil, plant and animal, gases, climate and digital tools. The center will also be embedded into a large innovation ecosystem to support discoveries and new technologies through institutional-public-private partnerships. We designed multiple strategies to actively disseminate the knowledge and innovations, contributing to farmers and stakeholders to adopt more sustainable practices, as well as creating low-C public awareness, and supporting the elaboration of the public policies. We expected our world-class research center will identify the main challenges and develop and implement solutions to increase sustainable agri-food production of tropical agrosystems, reducing GHG emissions and increasing C sequestration through climate-smart management practices. The outcomes will pave the way towards a low-C economy and promote sustainable social development in the coming decades. (AU)