Soil Organic Carbon Stock and Crop Yields in Huang-Huai-Hai Plains, China

Xiangbin Kong,Rattan Lal,Baoguo Li,Kejiang Li,Lei Han,Hongjun Liu ,Yanchao Bai

doi:10.5539/jas.v4n12p140

Xiangbin Kong, Rattan Lal + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5539/jas.v4n12p140

Copy DOI

Abstract

The Huang-Huai-Hai-plains (HHH) is the main wheat (Triticum aestivum)-maize(Zea mays) production area of China. Therefore, adoption of appropriate fertilizer management strategies of improving soil organic carbon (SOC) and crop yields is an important option in HHH. These studies included a total of 6 land use and management treatments including: (i) no fertilizer(CK); (ii) chemical nitrogen(N), phosphorus(P) and potassium(K) fertilizers separately(UF); (?) combined application of chemical fertilizer N,P and K(CF); (?) wheat and maize straw retention or manures including that from soybean (Glycine max) cake, chicken, horse and cow dung or manures only (O); (?) combined application N, P and K and organic fertilizers (CFO); (?) combined application of chemical fertilizer N,P or K separately and organic fertilizers (UFO). The data indicated the following: (i) The baseline SOC stock of arable land was 18.9±1.8 Mg ha-1 and the corresponding crop yield was 4.4±1.5 Mg ha-1; the highest SOC stock was 24.6±1.8 Mg ha-1 for CFO and the corresponding crop yield was 9.7±3.2 Mg ha-1; (ii) The rate of increase of SOC stock was in the order of CFO>UFO>CF>O>UF, while that of increase in crop yield was in the order of CFO>CF>UFO>UF>O; (?) Crop yield increased (Mg ha-1 yr-1) by 0.114 in UF and CF, by 0.039 in treatment O,CFO and UFO, and by 0.033 in CK by increase in SOC stock by 1 Mg ha-1; (?) Yield increased (Mg ha-1 yr-1) by 0.298, 0.119,0.065, and 0.022 by over 5, 10, 15, and over 25 years by increase in SOC stock by 1 Mg ha-1. Therefore, the combined application of chemical and organic fertilizers is the best choice for the developing countries to adapt to and mitigate climate change while advancing food security.

Highlights

The challenges of mitigating climate change and ensuring global food security are among the main global issues of the 21 century
The results show that the fertilizer management combined chemical and organic fertilizer is the best way to increase crop production and improve soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration across the HHH
The results presented confirmed that the increase in SOC stock in the HHH is due to the balanced application of chemical fertilizers N, P and K and straw residue returned since 1980s

Summary

Introduction

The challenges of mitigating climate change and ensuring global food security are among the main global issues of the 21 century. Anthropogenic activities have led to an increase in atmospheric concentration of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) from 280 ppm in the per-industrial era to almost 400 ppm at present (The Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center [CDIAC], 2009; The World Meteorological Organization [WMO], 2008), and CO2 concentration is increasing at the rate of about 2.2 ppm yr-1. There are more than 1 billion food-insecure people on the world, mostly in developing regions of Asia/Pacific, Sub-Saharan Africa, South/Central American, and the Caribbean (The Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO], 2009). The strategy is to increase agricultural production without increasing either the land area or the chemical fertilizer used. Sustainable management of fertilizers is the optimal choice for the developing countries to adapt to and mitigate climate change while advancing food security

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion