GreenPods help turn French farm from net-emitter to carbon sink

GreenPods is a fully integrated regenerative agriculture farm developer, based in France and aiming to scale up further in EU. They are a “Purpose Driven company” committed to generating tangible environmental and social impacts.

Their first farm La Granja in Toulouse, certified regenagri in August, is France’s largest organic almond orchard to have the Label Bas Carbone – a national GHG certification framework supported by the French government, which is expected to capture 4575 tons of CO2 over the next 20 years. This first 178-hectare farm has been a case study for how transition to regenerative agriculture can result in a more meaningful and context appropriate agricultural system.

Before being taken over by GreenPods, the farm had been producing corn using industrialised methods for 30 years. This corn was being exported as feed for Spain’s pork industry, an agroeconomic use that does not respond appropriately to today’s environmental or food supply challenges. GreenPods secured the farm on a 25-year organic lease. Using regenerative methods has transformed it from being a net carbon emitter to a carbon sink.

La Granja started their regenerative journey in 2021 by abandoning conventional monoculture and adopting a diversified and complex rotation including soy, buckwheat, sunflower, spelt, winter oats, winter wheat. Their arable crops are carefully managed with high irrigation efficiency tools and nourished by nature-based fertilizer coming from algae and livestock by products.

In February 2022 GreenPods, diversified further their operation by planting 17,000 almond trees and with another 10,000 planned for next winter; These perennials nut crops are now growing with full cover crops in between rows so that soil’s health may recover faster. On a farm level, as part of the restoration of landscape, a network of hedgerows has also been planted, ensuring ecological connectivity both along the perimeters and throughout the farm.

Their aim for the future is to keep specialising in tree nuts, servicing the growing demand for plant-based products, which will have full traceability back to the farm. This responds to the consumer demand to move towards more plant-based, locally sourced diets. It also responds to the requirement to stop depleting the soil and other natural resources through industrialised agricultural methods, and start actively regenerating them.  

Filippo Guerrini from regenagri comments:

“The work that GreenPods is carrying out represents is a fantastic example of the meaningful scaling up of regenerative agriculture. While increasing attention and finance are flowing into industry field, we critically need more project developers like GreenPods to translate words into actions, to ensure large scale regeneration of natural resources and future food security. I’m very much looking forward to watching their future expansion in EU.”

Boris Spassky from GreenPods :

“With regenerative agriculture gaining traction and momentum, we are convinced that consumers will demand the ability to verify the claims farmers are making with regards to their practices. It can’t just be a new buzzword. This implies having a robust set of certification standards and regular audits on farm. regenagri is backed by Control Union, a leading certification player, which has its roots in agriculture. This gives the program serious credibility.”

You can find out more about Greenpods here:

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