scholarly journals The Effect of Climate-Smart Agriculture on Soil Fertility, Crop Yield, and Soil Carbon in Southern Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4515
Author(s):  
Meron Tadesse ◽  
Belay Simane ◽  
Wuletawu Abera ◽  
Lulseged Tamene ◽  
Gebermedihin Ambaw ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Crop Yield ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Residue Management ◽  
Total Carbon ◽  
Southern Ethiopia

It is critical to develop technologies that simultaneously improve agricultural production, offset impacts of climate change, and ensure food security in a changing climate. Within this context, considerable attention has been given to climate-smart agricultural practices (CSA). This study was conducted to investigate the effects of integrating different CSA practices on crop production, soil fertility, and carbon sequestration after being practiced continuously for up to 10 years. The CSA practices include use of soil and water conservation (SWC) structures combined with biological measures, hedgerow planting, crop residue management, grazing management, crop rotation, and perennial crop-based agroforestry systems. The landscapes with CSA interventions were compared to farmers’ business-as-usual practices (i.e., control). Wheat (Triticum sp.) yield was quantified from 245 households. The results demonstrated that yield was 30–45% higher under CSA practices than the control (p < 0.05). The total carbon stored at a soil depth of 1 m was three- to seven-fold higher under CSA landscapes than the control. CSA interventions slightly increased the soil pH and exhibited 2.2–2.6 and 1.7–2.7 times more total nitrogen and plant-available phosphorus content, respectively, than the control. The time series Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) revealed higher soil moisture content under CSA. The findings illustrated the substantial opportunity of integrating CSA practices to build climate change resilience of resource-poor farmers through improving crop yield, reducing nutrient depletion, and mitigating GHG emissions through soil carbon sequestration.

scholarly journals Review of Large-Scale Biochar Field-Trials for Soil Amendment and the Observed Influences on Crop Yield Variations

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vandit Vijay ◽  
Sowmya Shreedhar ◽  
Komalkant Adlak ◽  
Sachin Payyanad ◽  
Vandana Sreedharan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Crop Yield ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Rapid Urbanization

Increasing pressure on farming systems due to rapid urbanization and population growth has severely affected soil health and fertility. The need to meet the growing food demands has also led to unsustainable farming practices with the intensive application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, resulting in significant greenhouse gas emissions. Biochar, a multifunctional carbon material, is being actively explored globally for simultaneously addressing the concerns related to improving soil fertility and mitigating climate change. Reviews on biochar, however, mainly confined to lab-scale studies analyze biochar production and its characteristics, its effects on soil fertility, and carbon sequestration. The present review addresses this gap by focusing on biochar field trials to enhance the current understanding of its actual impact on the field, w.r.t. agriculture and climate change. The review presents an overview of the effects of biochar application as observed in field studies on soil health (soil’s physical, chemical, and biological properties), crop productivity, and its potential role in carbon sequestration. General trends from this review indicate that biochar application provides higher benefits in soil properties and crop yield in degraded tropical soils vis-a-vis the temperate regions. The results also reveal diverse observations in soil health properties and crop yields with biochar amendment as different studies consider different crops, biochar feedstocks, and local climatic and soil conditions. Furthermore, it has been observed that the effects of biochar application in lab-scale studies with controlled environments are not always distinctly witnessed in corresponding field-based studies and the effects are not always synchronous across different regions. Hence, there is a need for more data, especially from well-designed long-term field trials, to converge and validate the results on the effectiveness of biochar on diverse soil types and agro-climatic zones to improve crop productivity and mitigate climate change.

scholarly journals Changes in Soil Carbon Sequestration during Woody Plant Encroachment in Arid Ecosystems

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 266-276
Author(s):  
Pratap Naikwade
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation ◽  
Arid Ecosystems ◽  
Woody Encroachment ◽  
Organic C

Carbon sequestration is one of the most important and highly recommended measures for mitigating climate change. Soil organic carbon (SOC) has potential to sequester the largest amount of carbon (C) for the longest time period in the midst of the organic C sinks in terrestrial ecosystems of the earth. In recent years, apprehension of the role of soils as sink for carbon on a wide-ranging scale has become dynamic. From last 150 years, encroachment of trees and shrubs into grasslands and the ‘thicketization’ of savannas have been reported and is a global phenomenon. One possibly beneficial effect could be that the shrub and tree-dominated ecosystems will sequester more carbon and will be a buffer for elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. The question of what is impact of woody encroachment on soil carbon balance of an ecosystem has proved difficult to answer, and the results remain debatable. The magnitude and pattern of changes in the SOC with woody encroachment are exceedingly abstruse and varies from significant increases, to significant decreases to no net change in SOC. Impact of wood plant encroachment on carbon sequestration is discussed in this paper considering various studies with different results so it will lead to better understanding of the complex phenomenon. SOC sequestration is effective greenhouse gas mitigation strategy and a vital ecosystem service. Increasing SOC may helpful to mitigate negative effects of growing concentration of CO2 in atmosphere and may be advantageous in decelerating or reversal in global climate change rate.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of Community-Based Soil and Water Conservation in Improving Soil Property in Damota Area, Southern Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Mamush Masha ◽  
Teshome Yirgu ◽  
Mulugeta Debele ◽  
Mengie Belayneh
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Soil And Water Conservation ◽  
Southern Ethiopia ◽  
Conservation Practices ◽  
Community Based ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Soil And Water

Soil and water conservation (SWC) is being advocated as an integral part of agricultural land management as it not only controls/minimizes soil erosion but also restores/rehabilitates the degraded lands. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of soil and water conservation practices in improving soil fertility in the agricultural landscapes of the Damota area, southern Ethiopia. Forty-eight soil samples (both disturbed and core samples) were collected from the conserved and adjacent nonconserved plots. The significance analysis test was performed using analysis of variance. The result of the study showed that higher mean values of soil physicochemical properties were observed in the conserved plot than its nonconserved counterpart. The mean differences of organic carbon, total nitrogen, cation exchange capacity, and exchangeable K+ and Ca2+ between conserved and nonconserved plots were statistically significant at the P < 0.01 level. Besides, available phosphorous and bulk density were significant at P < 0.05 , but the effect of SWC practices was not found significant on soil texture, soil pH, and exchangeable Na+ and Mg2+ content of the soil in the Damota area. Community-based soil and water conservation practices have improved the soil fertility in agricultural landscapes, although significant results have been observed in some fertility indicators. Therefore, strengthening the implementation of conservation measures by participating in all stakeholders is recommended. Supporting physical structures by agronomic and vegetative measures and continued maintenance can bring better results.

Manure and Mineral Fertilizer Effects on Crop Yield and Soil Carbon Sequestration: A Meta‐Analysis and Modeling Across China

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (11) ◽  
pp. 1659-1672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guiying Jiang ◽  
Wenju Zhang ◽  
Minggang Xu ◽  
Yakov Kuzyakov ◽  
Xubo Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Crop Yield ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Mineral Fertilizer ◽  
Soil Carbon Sequestration

scholarly journals Soil Carbon Sequestration Due to Salt-Affected Soil Amelioration with Coal Bio-Briquette Ash: A Case Study in Northeast China

Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1019
Author(s):  
Yuji Sakai ◽  
Masataka Nakamura ◽  
Chang Wang
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Carbon Content ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Calcium Hydroxide ◽  
Northeast China ◽  
Control Plot ◽  
Total Carbon ◽  
Pig Manure ◽  
Soil Amelioration ◽  
Salt Affected Soil

Increasing soil carbon storage and biomass utilization is an effective process for mitigating global warming. Coal bio-briquettes (CBB) are made using two low-ranked coals with high sulfur content, corn stalks, and calcium hydroxide, and the combustion ash can ameliorate the physicochemical properties in salt-affected soil. CBB ash contains mainly calcium compounds, such as calcium sulfate, calcium hydroxide, and calcium carbonate, and coal fly ash and biomass ash. In this paper, changes in soil carbon and nitrogen content through salt-affected soil amelioration during 5 months using two CBB ashes and pig manure were examined in Northeast China. Application rates of CBB ash were 0 tha−1 (control), 11.6 tha−1, 23.2 tha−1, 46.4 tha−1, and 69.6 tha−1. Consequently, total carbon content in topsoil (0–0.15 m) after harvest of maize in all test fields indicated a range between 27.7 tCha−1 and 50.2 tCha−1, and showed increased levels compared to untreated salt-affected soil. In a 3.0% (69.6 tha−1) application plot of only CBB ash with higher carbon and higher exchangeable Ca2+, the carbon content increased by 51.5% compared to control plot, and changes in carbon sequestration compared to untreated soil was roughly twice that of the control plot. CBB ash contributed to carbon application and pig manure supply as a form of N fertilization in the case of all test plots. Changes in carbon content due to soil amelioration have a significant relationship with changes in corn production and soil chemical properties, such as pH, Na+, Cl−, sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP). Therefore, CBB production from low-ranked coal and waste biomass, and the use of CBB ash in agriculture is advocated as an effective means for sequestering carbon.

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