scholarly journals Prospects of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration: Implications for Nepal’s Mountain Agriculture

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ngamindra Dahal ◽  
Roshan M Bajracharya
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Heavy Precipitation ◽  
Co2 Concentration ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Co2

Agricultural land is one of the major sources of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission, which results in an increase of the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. The conversion of biomass rich land like forests to agricultural land results in the release of carbon into the atmosphere. Once the CO2 enters into the atmosphere, it remains as a potent greenhouse gas for decades unless it is absorbed by plants through photosynthesis. Therefore, there is a need for abating CO2 emissions by enhancing carbon sequestration. Soils store twice as much carbon than vegetation and two thirds more than the atmosphere, and thus can store a significant quantity of CO2. Unsustainable farming leads to land degradation and the release of soil organic carbon (SOC). SOC may return directly to the atmosphere from the soil when organic material decays through decomposition or burning. SOC is important not only to maintain and enrich soil nutrients, but also in preventing the release of carbon in the forms of CO2 and Methane (CH4) into the atmosphere. Mountain agricultural land is sensitive to extreme weather events, such as heavy precipitation or long periods of drought. Such extreme events can trigger high soil erosion leading to losses of SOC. Hence, enhancing and conserving SOC is important for reducing soil erosion and the emission of greenhouse gases from lands, and to maintain a high moisture holding capacity of the soils. In many parts of Nepal, farmers have adopted various soil management practices in an effort to preserve fertile soils, which in many cases contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jfl.v9i1.8593 Journal of Forestry and Livelihood Vol.9(1) 2010 45-56

scholarly journals Effects of Sustainable Soil Management Practices on Distribution of Soil Organic Carbon in Upland Agricultural Soils of Mid-hills of Nepal

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nagmindra Dahal ◽  
Roshan M Bajracharya
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Sustainable Soil Management ◽  
Sequestration Potential ◽  
Soc Stocks

An abundance of soil organic carbon (SOC) generally enhances the quality of lands for agriculture or forestry. Concentration of SOC varies in accordance to the type of land use, the inputs to the soil, and natural factors including climate and vegetation. SOC is vital for sustaining agricultural productivity which chiefly depends on both the inherent soil type and crop management practices affecting depletion or replenishment of organic matter over the years. Assessment of SOC concentration is a characteristic measurement of evaluating soil quality and the carbon sequestration potential of agricultural land. This study aims to assess SOC distribution on selected farmlands of Nepal’s mid-hills, where farmers have adopted sustainable soil management practices in non-irrigable hill terraces (“Bari” land) in comparison with those of surrounding Bari and forests where no such interventions are made. Thus the present study estimated SOC content of three types of land use – farmland with sustainable soil management practices (SSMP), farmland without sustainable management practices (Non-SSMP) and the community managed forest in four mountain districts of Nepal, namely Baglung, Dhading, Kavre and Okhaldhunga. This study found the average SOC stocks in the SSMP land in the range of 20 - 44 Mgha-1,those in non-SSMP agricultural areas 15 to 48 Mgha-1, and in the forested land 16 to 23 Mgha-1. In general, the abundance of SOC stocks are in the order of SSM>Non-SSM>Forests. The analysis indicates the high potential for carbon sequestration in hill agriculture lands through sustainable soil management. Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 13, No. 1 (2012) 133-141 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njst.v13i1.7452

Alternatives to Glyphosate in conservation agriculture: effects on carbon sequestration in a field experiment in northern Italy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
alessia perego ◽  
marco acutis ◽  
calogero schillaci
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Field Experiment ◽  
Biomass Production ◽  
Cover Crops ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Cash Crop

<p>Conservative Agriculture (CA) practices are recognized to enhance soil organic carbon stock and in turn to mitigate the effect of climate change. One of the CA principles is to integrate cover crops (CC) into the cropping systems. The termination of CC before the cash crop sowing and the weeds control are the most critical aspects to manage in the CA. The technique currently adopted by farmers for the termination of CC implies the use of Glyphosate. However, the European Commission is currently discussing the possibility of banning the use of this herbicide due to the negative effects on human health and the agro-environment. The disk harrow (DH) or the roller-crimper (RC) can be adopted in CA as an alternative to the use of Glyphosate for the devitalization of CC, their incorporation into the soil (in the case of the disk harrow), and the reduction of weed pressure on the subsequent cash crop.</p><p>From November 2017 to October 2019, soil organic carbon (SOC, g kg<sup>-1</sup>) and crop biomass production were observed in a 2-year field experiment located in Lodi (northern Italy), in which minimum tillage (MT) has been applied for the last 5 years. The soil was loamy and SOC was 16.2 g kg<sup>-1</sup> at the beginning of the experiment. The winter CC was barley (from November to May) and the cash crop was soybean (from June to October). The experiment consisted in three treatments replied for two consecutive years in a randomized block design: Glyphosate spray + DH + sowing + hoeing (MT-GLY); DH + sowing + hoeing (MT-ORG); RC + sod seeding (NT-ORG).</p><p>At the end of 2019, SOC resulted in a higher increase in MT-GLY (+15%) and in MT-ORG (+14%) than in NT-ORG (+6%; p<0.01). This was due to the fact that CC litter in NT-ORG was not in direct contact with soil particles and the process of immobilization was lower than in the other treatments.</p><p>Moreover, the increase in SOC resulted positively correlated to the CC biomass (2018+2019), which was significantly lower in NT-ORG. In particular, no differences of soybean and CC between the three treatments were observed at the end of 2018, but MT-GLY resulted in significantly higher CC and soybean biomass at the end of the second year (+32%, p<0.01). MT-GLY allows to stock more carbon via photosynthesis that in turn results in higher SOC content.</p><p>However, if we consider the tractor fuel consumption (for Glyphosate spray, DH, RC, hoeing), along with the biomass production, the carbon sequestration did not vary between the three treatments.</p><p>Further studies are needed for the definition of optimized field management practices to reduce the passage of machinery while increasing crop production and SOC.</p>

scholarly journals Land Cover and Land Use Change-Driven Dynamics of Soil Organic Carbon in North-East Slovakian Croplands and Grasslands Between 1970 and 2013

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-173
Author(s):  
Rastislav Skalský ◽  
Štefan Koco ◽  
Gabriela Barančíková ◽  
Zuzana Tarasovičová ◽  
Ján Halas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
North East ◽  
Soc Stock

AbstractSoil organic carbon (SOC) in agricultural land forms part of the global terrestrial carbon cycle and it affects atmospheric carbon dioxide balance. SOC is sensitive to local agricultural management practices that sum up into regional SOC storage dynamics. Understanding regional carbon emission and sequestration trends is, therefore, important in formulating and implementing climate change adaptation and mitigation policies. In this study, the estimation of SOC stock and regional storage dynamics in the Ondavská Vrchovina region (North-Eastern Slovakia) cropland and grassland topsoil between 1970 and 2013 was performed with the RothC model and gridded spatial data on weather, initial SOC stock and historical land cover and land use changes. Initial SOC stock in the 0.3-m topsoil layer was estimated at 38.4 t ha−1 in 1970. The 2013 simulated value was 49.2 t ha−1, and the 1993–2013 simulated SOC stock values were within the measured data range. The total SOC storage in the study area, cropland and grassland areas, was 4.21 Mt in 1970 and 5.16 Mt in 2013, and this 0.95 Mt net SOC gain was attributed to inter-conversions of cropland and grassland areas between 1970 and 2013, which caused different organic carbon inputs to the soil during the simulation period with a strong effect on SOC stock temporal dynamics.

scholarly journals Assessing terrestrial carbon sink potential from vegetation under optimal land management

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zongyao Sha ◽  
Yongfei Bai ◽  
Ruren Li ◽  
Hai Lan ◽  
Xueliang Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Co2 Concentration ◽  
Integrated Method ◽  
Terrestrial Carbon Sink ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Co2

Abstract The global temperature could increase over 1.5 or even 2 °C by the middle of 21st century due to massive emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) — of which carbon dioxide (CO2) is the largest component1. Human activities emit more than 10 PgC (1PgC=1015gC) per year into the atmosphere1, which is regarded as the primary reason for increased atmospheric CO2 concentration and global warming2. Global vegetation sequesters 112–169 PgC each year3, about half of which is released back into the atmosphere through autotrophic respiration while the rest, termed as net primary production (NPP), is for balancing the CO2 emissions from human activities, microbial respiration, and decomposition4. Carbon sequestration from vegetation varies under different environmental conditions5 and could also be significantly altered by land management practices (LMPs)6. Adopting optimal land management practices (OLMPs) helps sequester more CO2 from the atmosphere and mitigate climate changes. Understanding the extra carbon sequestration with OLMPs, or termed as carbon gap, is an important scientific topic that is rarely studied. Here we propose an integrated method to identify the location-specific OLMPs and assess the carbon gap by using remotely sensed time-series of NPP dataset, segmented landscape-vegetation-soil (LVS) zones and distance-constrained zonal analysis. The findings show that the carbon gap from global land plants totaled 13.74 PgC per year with OLMPs referenced from within a 20km neighborhood, an equivalent of ~1/5 of the total sequestered net carbon at the current level; half of the carbon gap clusters in only ~15% of vegetated area. The carbon gap flux rises with population density and the priority for implementing OLMPs should be given to the densely populated areas to enhance the global carbon sequestration capacity.

scholarly journals Factors Controlling Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration of Highland Agricultural Areas in the Mae Chaem Basin, Northern Thailand

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noppol Arunrat ◽  
Nathsuda Pumijumnong ◽  
Sukanya Sereenonchai ◽  
Uthai Chareonwong
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Northern Thailand ◽  
Top Soil ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Crop Types ◽  
Organic Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Agricultural Areas

Understanding the effect of the environment, crop types, and land management practices on the organic carbon sequestration of top soil is crucial for adopting management strategies in highland agricultural areas. The objectives of this study are: (1) to estimate top soil organic carbon density (SOCD) of different crop types and (2) to analyze the factors controlling top SOCD in highland agricultural areas. The top soil layers from 0 to 30 cm depths were collected from the Mae Chaem basin, Northern Thailand. The results showed that the highest top SOCD was found soil used for growing upland rice, which contained an average of 58.71 Mg C ha−1. A significant difference between the top SOCD was detected between areas where minimum tillage and conventional tillage of various crops, with average of values 59.17 and 41.33 Mg C ha−1, respectively, for areas growing strawberries; 61.14 and 37.58 Mg C ha−1, respectively, for cabbage, and 71.15 and 39.55 Mg C ha−1, respectively, for maize. At higher elevation, the top SOCD was high, which may be due to high clay content and low temperature. Increased use of chemical fertilizers lead to increases in top SOCD, resulting in increased crop yields. Elevation, bulk density, N and K2O fertilizers were the main factors controlling the top SOCD at all sites.

scholarly journals Soil organic carbon concentrations and storage in irrigated cotton cropping systems sown on permanent beds in a Vertosol with restricted subsoil drainage

2013 ◽  
Vol 64 (8) ◽  
pp. 799 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. R. Hulugalle ◽  
T. B. Weaver ◽  
L. A. Finlay ◽  
V. Heimoana
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Carbon Dynamics ◽  
Wheat Stubble ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics ◽  
Carbon Concentrations

Long-term studies of soil organic carbon dynamics in two- and three-crop rotations in irrigated cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) based cropping systems under varying stubble management practices in Australian Vertosols are relatively few. Our objective was to quantify soil organic carbon dynamics during a 9-year period in four irrigated, cotton-based cropping systems sown on permanent beds in a Vertosol with restricted subsoil drainage near Narrabri in north-western New South Wales, Australia. The experimental treatments were: cotton–cotton (CC); cotton–vetch (Vicia villosa Roth. in 2002–06, Vicia benghalensis L. in 2007–11) (CV); cotton–wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), where wheat stubble was incorporated (CW); and cotton–wheat–vetch, where wheat stubble was retained as in-situ mulch (CWV). Vetch was terminated during or just before flowering by a combination of mowing and contact herbicides, and the residues were retained as in situ mulch. Estimates of carbon sequestered by above- and below-ground biomass inputs were in the order CWV >> CW = CV > CC. Carbon concentrations in the 0–1.2 m depth and carbon storage in the 0–0.3 and 0–1.2 m depths were similar among all cropping systems. Net carbon sequestration rates did not differ among cropping systems and did not change significantly with time in the 0–0.3 m depth, but net losses occurred in the 0–1.2 m depth. The discrepancy between measured and estimated values of sequestered carbon suggests that either the value of 5% used to estimate carbon sequestration from biomass inputs was an overestimate for this site, or post-sequestration losses may have been high. The latter has not been investigated in Australian Vertosols. Future research efforts should identify the cause and quantify the magnitude of these losses of organic carbon from soil.

scholarly journals Assessment of Soil Quality under Different Agricultural Land Use Systems: A Case Study of the Ibadan Farm Settlement

2020 ◽  
pp. 89-104
Author(s):  
B. O. Adebo ◽  
A. O. Aweto ◽  
K. Ogedengbe
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Agricultural Land Use ◽  
Land Uses ◽  
Native Land ◽  
Land Use Systems

Soil quality in an agroecosytem is considerably influenced by land use and management practices. Twenty two potential soil quality indicators were used to assess the effects of five different land use types (arable land, plantation, agroforestry, marginal land and native forest) on soil quality in Akufo and Atan farm settlements in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria. A total of sixty-two fields were selected from which soil samples were taken at a depth of 0-15 cm and subjected to laboratory analysis. Majority of the evaluated physicochemical properties varied significantly among the land uses and whereas native land performed relatively better for most of the observed attributes, arable and marginal lands performed worse. Due to the moderate to strong significant correlation among the potential indicators, they were subjected to principal component analysis and only seven indicators were selected to compute the soil quality index (SQI). In both Akufo and Atan, native land had the highest SQI (0.8250 and 0.860 respectively) which was significantly different (P = .05) from all the agricultural land uses, except plantation (0.739 and 0.750 respectively). Whereas marginal field in Atan was most degraded (SQI = 0.455), it was closely followed by arable fields in both locations. This study indicates that the current agricultural land use and soil management practices in Akufo and Atan farm settlements have negatively impacted soil quality; however, the degree of degradation was strongly influenced by the concentration of soil organic carbon in the understudied land use systems. It also emphasizes the need to promote the use of sustainable management practices among agricultural land users, so as to increase soil organic carbon stock, and improve soil quality and land productivity.

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