2 - Crop management practices for carbon sequestration

Abstract

Climate change is the worldwide pressing issue as it has impacted on greenhouse gas effect, global temperature rise, change on weather pattern, sea level rise, and extreme weather events. Better soil organic carbon stocks and sequestration potential ensure better land quality through better soil microbial biodiversity and biomass carbon, which are being considered as the major indicators of land quality. Maintaining the equilibrium between influx and out flux soil carbon level through sustainable agricultural management practices is brought out as one of the 17 sustainable development goals. Main aim of the climate change summit and policies is to limit the global mean temperature rise to 2°C above preindustrial level to attenuate climate change by carbon sequestration. Capturing the atmospheric carbon into terrestrial soil pool through improved agricultural management practices results in reduction of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere and improvement of soil quality and ensures sustainable agriculture, and it is being considered as one of the possible solutions to mitigate the ill effects of climate change as agriculture is the predominant global land use. Unsustainable intensive agricultural activities depleted soil organic carbon from active carbon pool, which is sensitive to crop production activities, whereas sustainable crop management practices such as conservation tillage, pooling back of crop stubble and farm residues, mulching, incorporation of organic amendments, integrated nutrient management, crop rotation, organic farming, land use change, agroforestry, mixed farming, biochar application, etc. ensure better soil aggregation and its stability, water and nutrient retention, reduced erosion, increased microbial activity, temperature regulation, root growth ascertain carbon sequestration, soil quality, and reduced anthropogenic emissions. This chapter outlines carbon sequestration potential of different crop production activities for sustainable agriculture and to combat the climate change.