The National Soil Carbon Innovation Challenge aims to fast-track the development of lower-cost, accurate technical approaches to measure soil carbon.
Stage 1 of the Challenge provides grants of up to $100,000 to applicants to conduct three-month feasibility studies into new technologies.
The Challenge will have multiple competitive grant rounds, to support feasibility studies, proof of concept testing, and validation and deployment through on-farm trials.
Stage 2, will be opened in the coming months, with $49 million in grants available to support proof of concept activities and validation and deployment of proposed technologies, until June 2024.
Stakeholders have indicated that the cost of soil carbon measurement is a barrier to widespread adoption of land management activities that increase soil carbon. Lowering measurement costs will improve the economics of soil carbon storage projects for farmers and help increase soil carbon sequestration across the landscape. Reducing the cost of soil carbon measurement to less than $3 per hectare per year is a priority under the government’s Technology Investment Roadmap.
Improving soil carbon content will improve farm productivity and crop yields through better nutrient and water retention, and boost resilience to drought and erosion. It also helps to lower emissions by taking CO2 out of the atmosphere and into soils.
If you have a technology, you want to develop more and apply for the Innovation challenge, find out more HERE