Gaïago Carbon program : a booster for farmers to revitalize their soils

Date:04-15-2022

Gaïago, a company specializing in innovative soil revitalization solutions, is launching the Gaïago Carbon program for farmers. Farmers enroll into a soil revitalization program and get compensation for the resulting carbon sequestration.

Carbon sequestration is a benefit of soil revitalization

“We estimate that by 2030, about 10% of the European Union’s annual CO2 emissions could be absorbed by cultivated land” Said Frans Timmermans, head of the Green deal at the European Comissions. Biological carbon sequestration is a major lever for fighting climate change. By revitalizing agricultural soils - which means increasing life in soils - and increasing the organic matter naturally present, soils are more fertile and sequestrate carbon massively and sustainably.

With a holistic approach, Gaïago provides the farming community with  simple, reliable and scientifically validated innovations to revitalize soils. The Gaïago Carbon offer aims to accelerate the revitalization of agricultural soils, thanks to the income generated by the sale of carbon credits.

Accelerating soil revitalization through carbon incomes

Gaïago offers farmers a unique program, easy to implement, using the first soil prebiotic and the measurement of sequestered carbon through soil sampling.

Farmers use NUTRIGEO^ⓇL prebiotic technology which offers numerous agronomic benefits: it improves soil structure and fertility in less than 6 months by increasing soil porosity and enhancing the availability of nutrients for the plant. Moreover, it ensures higher soil organic carbon content through the accelerated decomposition of crop residues into humus.

Strict specifications on the plots’ eligibility and the sampling method allow to sequester on average 3 additional tons of CO₂eq per hectare and per year¹, according to measurements taken in the field over the past 4 years². This prebiotic helps to significantly accelerate the benefits of Regenerative Agriculture.

This offer is compatible with all types of crops - field crops, vines, orchards, horticulture … - and will allow farmers to receive additional income from carbon credits generated during the 5-year program. This income is additional to the agronomic benefits of the product.

Gaïago coordinates a global project with reference partners

 In order to support the agro-ecological transition, Gaïago joins forces with reference partners to offer the simplest and most global service on the market.

Partner dealers offer to farmers a financial compensation for the environmental services linked to the transition to new farming methods.

In the field, dealers’ crop advisors will be able to use the Gaïago Carbon tool, designed with FarmLEAP: a state-of-the-art digital platform to easily monitor files, sequestration performance and animate discussions with their farmer’s community.

To measure the quantity of carbon sequestered, Gaïago mainly works with Auréa, an analysis laboratory and agri-environmental consulting company, the reference laboratory in Europe with 50 years of experience at the service of farmers.

The carbon credits generated are sold on the voluntary market by several complementary partners such as TerraTerre, a French player in offsetting. Its objective is to bring the business and agricultural world closer together for a fertile and decarbonized world by proposing high quality & local initiatives.

The entire program is monitored by recognized certifiers such as Gold Standard which ensure that carbon sequestration projects and emission reduction have the highest level of environmental integrity.

100% of the benefits to the farmers

Willing to be a driving force of the agro-ecological transition and to innovate in its financing, Gaïago has created a company with a dedicated mission that will market the carbon credits generated by the Gaïago Carbon program. 100% of this company’s benefits will be directed to those farmers engaged in this agro-ecological revolution.

Michel Funfschilling, Gaïago’s chief executive officer, comments: “With this Carbon initiative, Gaïago is going to deploy an innovative solution on a European scale to meet the challenges of climate change through agriculture. We are strengthening our commitment to the farming community, the agri-food industry and the planet.”

Vanessa Lefebvre, Head of the Carbon initiative adds: "The environmental and climate transition must be developed on positive and innovative solutions. Our carbon initiative brings together renowned players to show that farmers are real heroes combating climate change. Together with our partner dealers, we provide them with a unique and remunerative solution to finance this transition."

Initiative website: https://www.gaiagocarbon.com/

¹ Non-contractual figures, average sequestration measured on plots meeting the eligibility criteria for the offer

² Results of tests with UniLaSalle, various independent technical institutes and Aurea, soil analysis laboratory.

About Gaïago

Gaïago is a French company from Brittany that has been creating innovative solutions since 2014. These solutions  are based on the selective activation of microbiology - mainly in soils, but also around the seed and on the plant - in order to revitalize agrosystems.

The company has developed unique solutions such as the first soil prebiotic. This product awakens and develops beneficial soil microorganisms and thus generates numerous agronomic, nutritional, and environmental benefits. Gaïago products are universal and are currently distributed in 8 countries in Europe. Gaïago, a company based in Saint Malo, aims to implement, with its partners, the revitalization of soils and agrosystems.

Gaïago is labeled Greentech Innovation by the French Ministry of Ecological Transition and its product NUTRIGEO^ⓇL is part of the 1000+ international clean, sustainable and profitable solutions of the Solar Impulse Foundation.