Decarbonization. Everyone is talking about it. At iscal, we are taking concrete actions to reduce our carbon footprint in our factory, but that’s not enough. We aim to positively influence our partners as well. By joining forces with the entire Belgian beet & sugar sector, we organized a second edition of Plan B last week. The theme was clear: how to decarbonize beet cultivation?

Solutions Exist

Iscal believes in the future of the beet & sugar sector. That’s why we once again came together with the other 3 key players in the Belgian sector: the CBB (Confédération des Betteraviers Belges), Raffinerie Tirlemontoise, and IRBAB (Institut Royal Belge pour l’Amélioration de la Betterave).

Farmers play a crucial role in the existence of our sector. Without beets, we won’t get very far. However, our values and legislation increasingly push us towards adopting virtuous attitudes. Together, we took advantage of a moment of respite in the busy schedules of farmers to give them the opportunity to better inform themselves about different decarbonization techniques for their crops.

2nd Edition – Greater Ambitions

The late 2022 edition was quite generic. It aimed to present the sector as a whole and provide some future perspectives. The audience included farmers, as well as various partners. This year, we focused on the farmers and the theme of decarbonization.

After an introduction by Bruno De Wulf (CBB), we discussed the different elements to consider for decarbonization, with a special emphasis on ‘LCA’ | Life-Cycle Assessment studies. Marie Gilard (IRBAB) then presented the results of a survey to which 10% (700) of Belgian beet growers responded. Since nitrogen is one of the most important factors in a farm’s carbon balance, this survey aimed to assess its use and provide perspectives for improvement. The last two presentations addressed the state of the soils in each Belgian region and the impact of cultivation techniques on carbon in the soils by Jeroen Meersman (Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech).

The exchanges and debates were informative for the nearly 300 Walloon and Flemish farmers present on-site this Tuesday, February 20. As organizers, we are already showing interest in organizing a 3rd edition, with even more concrete themes, to help every Belgian farmer play an even more central role in our landscape.

By Brieuc

administrator