Promoting the Inclusion of Legumes in Arable Crop Rotations by Financing Resulting Emission Reductions on Carbon Markets

The paper addresses the low cultivation of legume crops despite their proven benefits in symbiotic nitrogen fixation, soil health, and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation. InVivo AgroSolutions designed a Joint Implementation program to value the ecosystem services of legumes by financing avoided GHG emissions. The article explains the calculation method for avoided emissions, describes a pilot experiment conducted with six agricultural cooperatives, and analyzes the outcomes in terms of emission abatement per hectare and per year. It concludes that abatement levels are moderate and that a high carbon price is required to maintain sufficient incentives. While the methodology needs refinement for systematic application, the results underscore the key role of cooperatives in structuring legume value chains.