Greenhouse gas balance for a sugar beet crop in Belgian Hesbaye

Belgium has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 55% between 1990 and 2030, which corresponds to a target of 64.3 Mt CO2 eq. In 2022, we were far from this target (103.2 Mt CO2 eq), with agriculture accounting for 11% of these emissions (11.5 Mt CO2 eq). All sectors must continue to make efforts, and for agriculture this means reducing its production of methane (CH4, linked to livestock rumination) and nitrous oxide (N2O, linked to fertilization) and improving its carbon balance. In sugar beet crops, the main flows in this balance are CO2 capture through photosynthesis, CO2 emissions by plant respiration and soil organic matter mineralization, carbon added through organic fertilization, and carbon removed during harvesting.
We will show how it is possible to measure all these flows for several entire sugar beet growing seasons on a plot in Hesbaye and establish its carbon balance. We will compare this carbon balance with those of winter wheat and potato crops grown on the same plot. We will also examine what proportion this carbon footprint represents in the total greenhouse gas footprint of the plot, including N₂O emissions. This final result will demonstrate and quantify the impact of a sugar beet plot on the climate.