The popcorn company Nataïs in the Gers encourages its corn suppliers to fight climate change by becoming "carbon storers" thanks to their change in farming practices. About fifty producers are won over by this system where, the more CO2 they store, the more this climate service is valued and therefore remunerated.

Among the different sectors involved in the ecological transition, there is an unexpected one that takes a step ahead, that of popcorn.

French popcorn is exploding in terms of positive impact in the fight against climate change. It is at Bézéril in the Gers that the company Nataïs has just signed an agreement with INRA so that the "popcorn corn" sector sets an example and embarks on the agro-ecological transition all the farmers supplying this small golden grain which is however the symbol of the Americanization of our sofa evenings. But that will change, the popcorn is about to become an ally in the low carbon strategy.

Is corn becoming an ally in the fight against greenhouse gases?

The popcorn will surprise us in the years to come. It all starts with a first step, that of evaluating the carbon balance of crops and getting farmers to maximize the absorption of CO2 in the soil by photosynthesis, that is to say through the growth of plants . Once INRA experts establish a balance between what comes in and what comes out of the soil in terms of greenhouse gases, that's when we can look in the box tool available to farmers. A simple way is to change farming practices that can be more thought out and optimized, such as between two corn harvests. So-called intermediate plantations such as faba bean can be set up because they are fabulous so-called carbon sequestering plants.

This is where the company that buys popcorn corn comes in.

It is new as an attempt! Nataïs had the idea of ​​rewarding farmers with a carbon premium per hectare. Basically, the more CO2 they store, the more this service rendered for the climate is valued and therefore remunerated. Fifty producers are already won over by this system. Farmers who can make popcorn and at the same time store carbon.