Impact of intensive agricultural management on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in the humid tropics

Abstract

ABSTRACT The concern about global climate change continues to increase research interest regarding carbon and nitrogen dynamics in the soil. This is based on their role in maintaining soil fertility, which can instead be a source of greenhouse gas emissions if not managed properly, while threatening food security. Humid tropical conditions enable intensive agricultural cultivation with various cropping systems to fulfill the demand for agriculture products. Such climate accelerates the soil organic matter decomposition rate so that it strongly influences soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics. However, inappropriate implementation of intensive agricultural systems that does not consider the balance between carbon and nitrogen input and output, negatively affects soil fertility, mainly decreasing soil organic carbon and total soil nitrogen, changing the composition of carbon and nitrogen owing to the loss of soil organic matter through erosion and leaching, thus, causing soil degradation. Mitigation strategies can be performed by using organic matter and crop residue, crop rotation and improvement of crop pattern, soil tillage and fertilization, cover crops and mulch. Sustainable land management for maintenance of soil organic carbon and total soil nitrogen dynamics should be locally and globally developed and adopted for a more sustainable agricultural system. Recovery of soil capacity to accumulate carbon is a strategic step to reduce the impact of climate change. Hence, an intensive study on efficient soil organic carbon management is required to improve food production and mitigation of climate change to attain sustainable development goals in 2030.