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Analysis of the environmental and economic performance of common agricultural policy eco-schemes in soil organic carbon sequestration

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  • Colombo, Sergio
  • Castro-Rodríguez, Juan
  • Peréz-Pérez, Daniel
  • Almagro, María

Abstract

The Andalusian olive grove in South Spain is employed as a case study to assess the environmental and economic effects of the green architecture (eco-schemes) of the Common Agricultural Policy in relation to low carbon agriculture under different soil management policy scenarios to support more efficient agri-environmental policy making. To do so, we adopted a multidisciplinary approach in which we used: (i) an integrated modelling framework comprising geographic information systems (GIS); (ii) the RothC model; and (iii) a cost-benefit analysis. Results show that eco-schemes provide a significant increase of soil organic carbon (SOC) relative to cross-compliance. Practices involving vegetation covers are more efficient than using pruning residues as mulching. SOC accumulation increases rapidly in the first five-ten years to slow down afterwards. The cost-benefit ratios of eco-schemes policy implementation are higher than one when only SOC is considered. Nonetheless, the inclusion of additional co-benefits has the potential to invert this scenario and enhance policy efficacy. Various insights on optimizing the design and application of eco-scheme efficiency are provided.

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  • Colombo, Sergio & Castro-Rodríguez, Juan & Peréz-Pérez, Daniel & Almagro, María, 2024. "Analysis of the environmental and economic performance of common agricultural policy eco-schemes in soil organic carbon sequestration," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:220:y:2024:i:c:s0921800924000806
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108183
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