CHANGES to the agricultural sector must be made if Australia is to meet its targets for the Paris Agreement on climate change, according to a University of New England professor.
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Annette Cowie, co-author of the sixth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment, said it's not too late to differ the way things are done.
She said the report offers a number of ways people on the land can simultaneously reduce their emissions footprint while improving farming practices.
"The key message is that we're not on track to meet the goals for the Paris Agreement, but the report does offer a range of feasible options for mitigating emissions and sequestering carbon," she said.
"And a lot of these actually offer opportunities for the lands sector."
Prof Cowie said as a major agricultural hub in NSW and Australia more broadly, the New England could lead the way and benefit from a change in tact towards more environmentally friendly practices.
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"The agriculture sector has a fair challenge because it's a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, the livestock sector in particular, three quarters of the agriculture sector emissions come from the livestock sector," she said.
"And the agriculture sector contributes about 15 per cent of NSW emissions.
"Under the offsets scheme we have there's quite a lot of opportunities in the lands sector, associated with planting trees or restoring and regenerating native vegetation, and also rebuilding soil carbon and these are both relevant for the agriculture sector of the New England."
One innovative new product that Prof Cowie is particularly excited about is biochar, which is a charcoal-like substance made out of organic matter that is used as a soil amendment.
It can be made out of things like forestry residues, poultry litter or manure, by heating them in a low-oxygen environment.
Biochar contains very stable carbon that can last in soil for hundreds to thousands of years without breaking down. It also improves soil properties, while attracting extra carbon and reducing emissions from nitrous oxide, which is roughly 300 times more powerful that carbon dioxide.
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