The International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) has launched the ICAC Carbon Footprint Application, a free tool available in English and French as both a web application and a mobile app on iOS and Android.
The application is designed to help farmers, researchers, and policymakers calculate the net carbon footprint of cotton production and related activities. By entering input values, users can estimate CO₂-equivalent (CO₂-eq) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions alongside the potential carbon sequestration achieved through various practices.
Key features include:
- Calculation of farm and household emissions, with the ability to aggregate footprints for larger areas such as villages, towns, or districts to eventually assess net-zero targets.
- Customizable assessments for different soil types, seed use, mulching, transport, 30+ tillage operations, 10+ planting methods, pesticide application techniques, weeding practices, and 14+ harvesting methods.
- Inclusion of animal and human labor, irrigation systems (9 methods with depth options using electricity or diesel), 30+ fertilizers, 16+ composts and manures, and more than 550 generic pesticide molecules represented in over 4,400 commercial formulations.
- Consideration of land-use change emissions and carbon sequestration through cotton fiber, crop residue management (fuel, biochar, or mulching), and regenerative agriculture practices such as cover crops, reduced tillage, and soil carbon enhancement.
- The dashboard provides a clear breakdown of CO₂-eq GHG emissions per hectare, estimates of carbon sequestration, and the final calculation of net carbon credits.
“With its comprehensive capabilities, the ICAC Carbon Footprint Application provides farmers and policymakers with a practical and science-based tool to evaluate and reduce emissions, enhance carbon sequestration, and work toward climate-smart, sustainable cotton production,” said ICAC Chief Scientist, Dr. Keshav Kranthi, who developed the application. “By enabling assessments from individual farms to entire regions, this app supports the global drive toward net-zero targets and responsible carbon management.”
