How sunflowers are saving farmland in Romania

For years, Nicu Serban has worked the fields in Bacău County, Romania, growing potatoes for Lay’s. Studying weather patterns has long been essential to a successful growing season. But thanks to climate change, those once-reliable signs have become harder to trust, putting his livelihood at risk.

"We depend on the weather, the seasons. It’s not easy. You have to learn; the team has to adapt, and technologies have to change,” Nicu says.

Nicu has found a clever way to meet this unprecedented challenge: sunflowers. Planting sunflowers along his most recent potato harvest can enrich the soil without fertilizer and attract bees and other beneficial insects.

The initiative is part of a five-year regenerative agriculture partnership with PepsiCo that aims to improve soil quality and reduce emissions.

Now in its second year, the project spans 20 hectares — roughly 60 football fields. In addition to outside-the-box solutions like sunflowers, farmers are turning to sustainable alternatives to fertilizers and pesticides, including techniques like cover crops, crop rotation, and drip irrigation.

Today, Nicu’s family’s farm has achieved net-zero emissions, while also increasing yields. “Regenerative agriculture, I think is the path that can be followed by any farmer,” he says. “It just needs faith.”