The Government is promoting knowledge about carbon agriculture through an agreement with the Spanish Association of Conservation Agriculture Living Soils

• The agreement continues the current framework for joint collaboration in order to contribute to a better understanding of conservation agriculture practices and their wider application across ecoregions.
• It will pay special attention to the training of women and to promoting generational renewal and retaining population in rural areas.
• The agreement has a maximum budget of 422,100 euros and will run until December 2027.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Spanish Association for Conservation Agriculture and Living Soils (Aeacsv) have renewed their collaboration agreement to promote knowledge, innovation, and dissemination of information on carbon-based agriculture. This collaboration aims to increase the application of conservation agriculture practices within the eco-schemes of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

The new agreement, published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) , will last until December 2027 and has a maximum budget of 422,100 euros, of which 242,000 will be contributed by the ministry.

The collaboration between the ministry and Aeacsv is structured around three main areas of work. The first, focused on knowledge management, includes the creation of a technical database and the maintenance of a web portal that will serve as a repository for educational materials.

In the area of knowledge transfer, training activities will be conducted both online and in person, in addition to field demonstrations and exchanges of experiences among professionals. Regarding communication and awareness-raising, a specific strategy will be developed to disseminate the results obtained, success stories, and best practices, with the aim of positioning the agreement with key audiences.

Training in conservation agriculture and carbon-neutral farming eco-managements is aimed at farmers, livestock breeders, cooperative and association technicians, professionals from agricultural service companies, and public administration staff. Special attention will be given to training women and young people in rural areas to promote generational renewal and encourage people to remain in rural communities.

Carbon-enhancing farming practices generate significant increases in soil organic carbon across various crops, systems, and regions. Soils with more carbon mean less erosion, greater water retention, improved structure, increased biodiversity, and a greater capacity to act as natural carbon sinks. In short, healthier soils for healthier territories.

Increasing the organic carbon content in agricultural soils is part of the objectives to be achieved in the Strategic Plan of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2023-2027, through the so-called eco-schemes, to which 23% of the total budget of direct aid is allocated, some 1.1 billion euros annually.

Within eco-schemes, the practices with the greatest expected impact on soil carbon content are conservation agriculture, no-till farming, cover crops, and extensive grazing. Their adoption and implementation by farmers has been successful. Data from 2024 show an increase compared to 2023, with 463,313 farm owners participating, representing 77.5% of all applicants for CAP aid. The area declared for eco-schemes has also increased, reaching 19.2 million hectares, 88% of the total area eligible for basic income support, one percentage point higher than in 2023.