Improving the resilience of perennial fruit: good practices for soil conservation and carbon storage

Soil management is crucial in mitigating climate change, particularly in the vulnerable Mediterranean region, where soil degradation is a major concern. Effective soilconservation strategies encompass erosion control, fertility maintenance and preserving organic matter, physical properties and nutrients. High-quality soil enhances sustainability by reducing flood risks and supporting groundwater recharge. A key aspect of climate change mitigation is optimising soil carbon storage through ‘carbon farming’. Since agriculture contributes approximately 30% of global anthropogenic emissions, increasing soil carbon content via sequestration-friendly practices presents a viable approach to offset these emissions and promote sustainable agriculture. Farmers are adjusting their practices to cope with the challenge, but many of thesesolutions remain confined to specific regions or agricultural sectors. The EU-funded CLIMED-FRUIT project is working to bridge this gap by collecting and sharing innovative, climate-adaptive practices from various European agricultural groups to enhance resilience and promote effective climate change adaptation and mitigation. This article presents a non-exhaustive list of experimental results from projects carried out across Europe and identified in the framework of CLIMED-FRUIT project