![]() farms reporting field crops used winter cover crops.ĭavies, who was supervised by Nancy Olewiler, a professor at SFU’s School of Public Policy, says farmers currently underinvest in cover cropping since they are not compensated for the ecological services that they provide to society. “Yet despite the potential of cover crops to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support adaptation to climate change, adoption rates remain low.” She found that in 2015, only 28.1 percent of B.C. ![]() has one of the most favourable climates for cover crops in Canada,” says Davies, who receives her Master of Public Policy this week during SFU’s spring convocation. Cover crops can also sequester between 0.11 and 0.51 tons of carbon per hectare per year in B.C., and the average abatement cost of increasing adoption of cover cropping is $51 per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent.Ĭover crops may be planted over whole fields or be selectively planted to sustain, recover, or enhance desirable ecological attributes. As British Columbia’s agriculture sector faces the challenges of climate change, an SFU researcher is exploring one effective pathway to mitigate emissions and increase industry resilience-through increasing the adoption of cover crops.Ĭlaire Davies, who recently completed her capstone project in SFU’s Masters in Public Policy program, focuses on the dual purpose of cover crops, as they provide protection against the impacts of climate change for B.C.’s farms and also sequester carbon to mitigate impacts.Ĭover crops are plants that provide a variety of ecosystem services such as slowing soil erosion, improving soil health, and increasing crop resilience to extreme weather events.
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