The problem is that our methods of growing food are highly unecological and result in enormous greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the need for agricultural lands is increasing, which leads to the destruction of forests. To improve the situation, scientists proposed a new idea, or rather a product, whose cultivation will not only feed millions, but also capture tons of CO.₂ from the air

What do they offer?

Edible mushrooms can come to the rescue, which can compensate for the loss of forest land. A new study shows it’s rich white Food can capture excess carbon in the soil while simultaneously expanding forest plantations.

We have very ambitious targets for tree planting in Scotland and the UK as a whole. These trees have to grow somewhere, and that can come at the expense of farmland. This gives us the opportunity to combine trees and edible crops in one area.
Says plant ecologist Alastair Jump of the University of Stirling, who is co-author of the new study with mushroom expert Paul Thomas.

Globally, considering tree planting efforts over the past decade, researchers Growing edible mushrooms on existing forest land can increase food production without deforestation, while feeding millions of people every year. At the same time, we will enjoy all the benefits of forests without the ecological burden of intensive agriculture such as fertilization, water use or supplementary feed cultivation. Of course, if new technologies for joint cultivation of mushrooms and seedlings are common.

The main idea is that edible mushrooms such as the easily recognizable blue lactarius (Lactarius indigo) can be grown between trees planted in a garden-like system or for reforestation for protection. Fungi naturally form close bonds with trees, entangling the roots of plants and exchanging minerals and nutrients in exchange for carbon. As trees develop, the underground mushroom network grows and sprouts fungi.

cork and carbon

It is well known that many aspects of agriculture emit greenhouse gases; From tilling and tilling the soil, these gases that trap the carbon that plants will absorb and absorb into their roots, to fertilizer production, which also emits nitrous oxide. when applied to crops. Fungi can store carbon in the soil for long periods of time in a wide network of filaments, unless these soils are inverted.

The highest scores from the analysis combining data collected from forest lands and forest remote sensing data indicate that it is possible to add fungi to forests under northern conditions. will allow the accumulation of 12.8 metric tons of carbon each year. If this approach were used in temperate forests, half as much carbon could be collected from the air. However, these data are incorrect.