Agriculture ecosystem models for CO2 sequestration, improving soil physicochemical properties, and restoring degraded land

Abstract

Plans outlined in the conference of parties (COP) 26 included the restoration of degraded lands as one of the targets for achieving long-term food sustainability under climate change. The experiment aimed to assess carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration and improvement in soil physicochemical properties of agriculture ecosystem models. The results of the experiment shows that the bulk density (ρb) and particle density (ρd) were significantly influenced at both depths 0–10 and 10–20 cm in developed ecosystems. The lowest (1.36 g cc−1) and highest (1.57 g cc−1) values of ρb were recorded at the depth of 0–10 cm in forest land (FL) and mono-cropping rice (Oryza sativa) cultivation land (MCRCL), respectively. The minimum values (kg ha−1) of N (161.27), P (14.87), and K (152.07) were recorded at the depth of 0–10 cm in mono-cropping wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivated land (MCWCL), guava (Psidium guajava) + green gram (Vigna radiata) cultivation land (GGCL), and MCRCL, respectively. Moreover, the maximum N (207.60 kg ha−1) and P (19.27 kg ha−1) were recorded at the depth of 0–10 in FL system, and K (204.60 kg ha−1) in Karonda (Carissa carandas) cultivation land (KCL). The minimum soil N (158.93 kg ha−1) was recorded in pasture land (PL), while P (13.37 kg ha−1) and K (146.0 kg ha−1) was found in MCRCL system at the depth of 10–20 cm. While the highest soil organic carbon (SOC) stock was recorded in FL (18.40 Mg ha−1) and least in MCWCL system (6.57 Mg ha−1). The highest to the lowest value of CO2 sequestration (Mg ha−1) was found in the FL system (115.06) followed by KCL (41.11), GGCL (38.93), MCWCL (22.10), MCRCL (17.65), PL (9.40), and seasonal pond area (SPA 0.87). Likewise, the highest to lowest value of total C credit (US$) was found in FL (342.03) after that KCL (122.2), GGCL (115.71), MCWCL (65.7), MCRCL (52.45), PL (27.94), and SPA (2.6), respectively. With the creation of agricultural ecosystem models on degraded land, this work gives a roadmap for repairing degraded land, enhance the terrestrial CO2 sequestration, C-credit, and boosting ecological services, which may contribute to attaining long-term food sustainability.