Storing Carbon in Agricultural Soils: Evaluation of Action Levers for France

Agricultural soils hold vast carbon stocks as organic matter, offering significant mitigation potential for climate change. This paper evaluates four levers to enhance soil carbon storage in mainland France without major system changes: reducing tillage, increasing cover crops in annual rotations, developing agroforestry and hedges, and optimizing grassland management. For each practice, the authors estimate additional carbon sequestration per hectare, the exploitable area, and the aggregated storage potential nationally. Results indicate that increasing organic matter inputs via woody plant integration and cover crops is more effective for soil C gains than focusing solely on reducing organic matter mineralization through no-till.