Impact of agricultural land management practices on soil carbon sequestration
2015
The soil carbon sequestration is a cost effective strategy to mitigate climate change during first 2 to 3 decades of the 21 Century. The greenhouse gases (GHGs) in atmosphere are increasing at the rate of 0.5%, 0.6% and 0.25 ppbv yr for Co, CH-12₄ and NO, respectively. Contribution of these three GHGs to global warming is to an extent of 20% due to agricultural activities and 14% due to in land use changes and attendant deforestation. Major agricultural activities that contribute to emission of GHGs include ploughing, application of manures and fertilizers, soil drainage, biomass burning and crop residue removal. The loss of soil C is accentuated by soil degradation factors such as erosion, compaction, salinization etc. and the attendant decline in soil quality. Historic global C loss due to agriculture is estimated at 55 to 100 Pg from soil C pool and 100 to 150Pgfromthe biotic C pool. Adoption of recommended agricultural practices can lead to enhanced in soil organic carbon (SOC) storage and aggregation, and restoration of soil quality. Improved agricultural practices include mulching and conservation tillage, growing cover crops and eliminating summer fallow, using judicious fertilizer inputs including precision farming and use of biosolids, adopting improved cropping systems, managing soil-water through drainage and irrigation, and restoring degraded soils. The long-term solution to the risk of potential global warming lies in finding alternatives to fossil fuel. Therefore, the strategy of soil C sequestration is a bridge to the future.
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