Carbon sequestration in French agricultural soils: A spatial economic evaluation

Soil organic carbon sequestration measures entail costs to farmers with different individual characteristics and located in different areas. A cost‐effective analysis taking into account these heterogeneities is crucial for developing effective public policy aimed at increasing carbon sequestration....

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Published inAgricultural economics Vol. 52; no. 2; pp. 301 - 316
Main Authors Bamière, Laure, Jayet, Pierre‐Alain, Kahindo, Salomé, Martin, Elsa
Format Journal Article Paper
LanguageEnglish
Published Malden Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.03.2021
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Wiley
Subjects
Agricultural economics
Agricultural land
Agricultural policy
agricultural soil
Carbon
Carbon sequestration
Climate change
Command and control
Cost analysis
Economic incentives
Economics and Finance
Environmental changes
Environmental policy
Farmers
Grasslands
Greenhouse gases
Hedgerows
Humanities and Social Sciences
Incentives
mathematical programming model
Optimization
Organic carbon
Organic soils
Public policy
Soils
Programmation mathématique
agricultural soil
carbon sequestration
Changement Climatique
mathematical programming model
Sol agricole
climate change
Séquestration de carbone
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Summary:Soil organic carbon sequestration measures entail costs to farmers with different individual characteristics and located in different areas. A cost‐effective analysis taking into account these heterogeneities is crucial for developing effective public policy aimed at increasing carbon sequestration. We undertake such an analysis focusing on three soil organic carbon sequestration measures: no‐till, extension of temporary grasslands, and hedgerows. Through an optimization model applied to France, our results show that only extension of temporary grasslands can store carbon at low cost, though their potential for carbon sequestration is also low. For an ambitious carbon sequestration target, no‐till and hedgerows are needed. Because of heterogeneities among farmers, we show that economic incentives are more cost effective than command and control measures. Furthermore, we highlight that the carbon sequestration policy tested here is unable to totally neutralize agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and that a combination of agricultural and environmental policies is essential for tackling climate change.
ISSN:0169-5150
1574-0862
DOI:10.1111/agec.12619