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Orange Trees Are Becoming Climate Allies: They Capture CO₂, Outperform Other Crops, and Can Generate Income in the Carbon Market.
Orange trees in Brazil are helping to clean the atmosphere. A groundbreaking study conducted by Embrapa Territorial and Fundecitrus, with support from the British company Innocent Drinks, revealed that each hectare of orchard in Brazil’s citrus belt can capture an average of 2 tons of CO₂ per year.
The research, released in July 2025, covered cultivation areas in São Paulo and the Triângulo and Southwest regions of Minas Gerais, demonstrating the potential of citrus fruits as strategic allies in combating climate change.
The study not only provides concrete data on carbon capture but also opens doors for the sector to enter the promising carbon credit market, combining agrotechnology, productivity, and sustainability.
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Orange Orchards Contribute to CO2 Sequestration
Continuously and quietly, orange orchards are making a significant climate impact. Through photosynthesis, the trees absorb carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere, transforming it into biomass.
This natural process allows carbon to be stored in trunks, leaves, roots, and even in the soil through organic waste.
According to the research, each tree fixes an average of 4.28 kilograms of carbon per year. This means that, per hectare, the total stored can reach 25 tons of carbon, surpassing other common crops such as soy, corn, and pastures.
The data shows that, in addition to economic importance, orange cultivation plays a crucial role in environmental balance.
How Did Scientists Calculate the Carbon from Orange Trees?
To achieve accurate results, researchers from EMBRAPA and Fundecitrus used a combination of field biometric measurements, satellite imagery, and advanced mathematical modeling.
They directly measured 80 orange trees of different ages and varieties, in addition to conducting biometric analysis of 1,321 trees spread across various citrus regions.
Based on allometric equations—models that relate characteristics such as height, trunk diameter, and crown volume—the experts could estimate the volume of live biomass and the amount of carbon present in each tree.
The result is impressive: each orange tree stores an average of 52 kilograms of carbon.
Older Orange Trees Are Champions in Carbon Capture
The survey also revealed that trees over 10 years old account for 76% of the total carbon stored in the studied region. This indicates that the more mature the trees, the greater their positive impact on CO₂ capture.
The research also analyzed the main varieties of oranges grown: Pera, Valência, and others. The distribution of carbon was proportional to the presence of each: Pera (32.7%), Valência (34.7%), and others (32.6%).
The researchers expect that as younger trees mature, their role in combating greenhouse gases will become even more significant.
Orange Trees Can Generate Credits in the Carbon Market
Researcher Lauro Rodrigues Nogueira Júnior from Embrapa emphasizes that the data obtained provides a solid foundation for the citrus sector to accurately measure its carbon stocks.
This means that farmers and companies will be able to use this information to access the carbon credit market, being rewarded for their contributions to reducing CO₂ in the atmosphere.
The union of agrotechnology, environmental responsibility, and innovation can place orange orchards as protagonists in the sustainable future of Brazilian agribusiness.
The Citrus Belt and Its Climate Potential
The so-called citrus belt includes more than 337 thousand hectares of plantations in the states of São Paulo, Triângulo, and Southwest Minas Gerais, with about 162 million orange trees over three years old.
This true green sea represents a stock of 8.4 million tons of fixed carbon, a significant amount in fighting the greenhouse effect.
For comparison, each orange tree neutralizes, on average, 10 days of greenhouse gas emissions from a Brazilian citizen, showing that the climate potential of these trees goes far beyond the production of juice and fresh fruits.
With these numbers, citrus cultivation gains a new value, also becoming a powerful environmental tool.
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