By Jill Ettinger / Source: Ecosalon

While much of conventional farming is doing more harm than good to the climate, wheat may be an important crop for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

So, would wheat still be such a dietary pariah if it could help to curb climate change?

According to a new paper published in the recent journal Nature Communications, we may want to give wheat another chance. “The study found that a combination of a few basic farming practices boosted wheat production and put heaps of carbon back into the soil–more than enough to compensate for the GHGs emitted in the process of growing it,” reports Civil Eats.

It’s been thought that wheat actually contributes to greenhouse gases by producing carbon, but the roots and stems of the plants that are left in the ground at the end of the growing season actually replenish carbon in the soil, which offsets emissions. Civil Eats explains: “That means reducing the climate impact of wheat hinges on maximizing soil carbon storage and minimizing inputs, all while growing as much grain as possible.”

The researchers farmed several dozen test plots, with four different cropping techniques, measuring the results. The test plots were either grown with “a three-year rotation of fallow-wheat-wheat, another of fallow-flax-wheat, a two-year rotation of wheat and lentils, and continuous wheat plantings,” reports Civil Eats. “What the researchers found surprised them: All of the plots had a negative carbon footprint.”

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