Coconut’s Potential for Carbon-Sequestration Should be Examined: ICAR

AK Singh, Deputy Director General (Horticultural Sciences), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), believes that the carbon sequestration potential of coconut should be investigated further.

Singh said coconut sequesters 15 tonnes of carbon dioxide per hectare each year, speaking at the 106th foundation day of the Kasaragod-based Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI). He claims that this is enormous in comparison to other crops that take up a lot of space.

He advocated for the use of a high-density multiple cropping systems to increase carbon dioxide sequestration.

If the UN implements a carbon credit programme, he believes this crop will be one of the major winners in India.

In response to CPCRI's focus on coconut and arecanut, he stated that these crops have an important role in carbon sequestration, which must be fully exploited.

Singh said there will be a stronger emphasis on technologies in the agriculture industry for higher efficiency in breeding, management, and other areas, stressing that research institutes should actively incorporate new technology tools.

He said that gene editing had reached unanticipated levels in some crops and that the government will consider gene editing in the next few days. The government has received a report from a committee on this subject. "We need to recommit ourselves to expanding the use of new tools," he said.

He asked organizations like the CPCRI to convert at least 15-20 percent of their land to natural farming and collect more data on the subject.

He has called for constant monitoring of soil media at the institute level, claiming that such data will provide useful insights as natural farming gains momentum.

What is Carbon Sequestration?

Carbon Sequestration is the most prominent mitigation strategy that refers to capturing atmospheric carbon and storing it in long-lived pools, such as photosynthesis by plants. Climate-smart agriculture serves as a rallying point for adaptation strategies, which are a collection of site-specific management activities.

Most studies on climate change mitigation and adaptation in agriculture have focused on annual crops, with little attention paid to perennials like coconut. Coconut-based ecosystems provide excellent opportunities for increasing carbon sequestration through crop combinations involving a wide range of plants such as food crops, tubers, vines, and tree crops.