Tillage effects on carbon footprint and ecosystem services of climate regulation in a winter wheat–summer maize cropping system of the North China Plain

Manure replacing synthetic fertilizer improves crop yield sustainability and reduces carbon footprint under winter wheat–summer maize cropping system

Effects of Long-Term Straw-Return Modes on Soil Organic Carbon Content and Carbon Footprint in Wheat–Maize Rotation System

Tillage strategies optimize SOC distribution to reduce carbon footprint

Maize stalk incorporation increases N2O emissions that offset the benefit of SOC sequestration in a winter wheat-summer maize field: A four-year measurement in long-term fertilizer experiments

Climate change is a substantial threat to the global food supply, especially for the North China Plain (NCP), a critical agricultural region in China that exhibits high sensitivity and vulnerability to climate change. Under climate change, many uncertainties remain regarding crop yields, soil organic carbon (SOC), and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A 20-year on-farm observational study (2003-2022) of a winter wheat-summer maize rotation system was conducted to comprehensively quantify the continuous variations in crop productivity, SOC storage, GHG emissions, and carbon footprints (CFs) in the NCP. A warming trend of 0.08°C per year and an annual increase of 57 hours in sunshine duration were detected over the study period. Both wheat and maize yields showed sustained improvements, with annual rates of 70 kg ha-1 and 184 kg ha-1, respectively. Wheat yields were primarily influenced by cumulative sunshine hours in November and soil total potassium (K) content, whereas maize yields were significantly affected by wheat-season agricultural inputs (water, N, P, K fertilizers) and initial soil properties (pH, N, P, K). Although wheat production generated higher GHG emissions than maize (7,307.5 vs 2,998.7 kg CO2-eq ha-1), the wheat season transitioned into a net carbon sink (CF < 0) due to SOC accumulation (0.58 g kg-1 year-1). Conversely, SOC depletion (-0.72 g kg-1 year-1) during the maize season resulted in a carbon source status (CF > 0). This divergence likely stems from contrasting straw management practices: wheat straw incorporation at 20 cm depth versus maize straw surface mulching. Our findings demonstrate significant improvements in crop yields, SOC sequestration, and net ecosystem economic budget over two decades. However, the decelerating trends in yield gains and SOC accumulation rates warrant strategic attention to sustain long-term agricultural resilience.

Biochar soil amendment (BSA) had been advocated as a promising approach to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in agriculture. However, the net GHG mitigation potential of BSA remained unquantified with regard to the manufacturing process and field application. Carbon footprint (CF) was employed to assess the mitigating potential of BSA by estimating all the direct and indirect GHG emissions in the full life cycles of crop production including production and field application of biochar. Data were obtained from 7 sites (4 sites for paddy rice production and 3 sites for maize production) under a single BSA at 20 t/ha−1 across mainland China. Considering soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration and GHG emission reduction from syngas recycling, BSA reduced the CFs by 20.37–41.29 t carbon dioxide equivalent ha−1 (CO2‐eq ha−1) and 28.58–39.49 t CO2‐eq ha−1 for paddy rice and maize production, respectively, compared to no biochar application. Without considering SOC sequestration and syngas recycling, the net CF change by BSA was in a range of −25.06 to 9.82 t CO2‐eq ha−1 and −20.07 to 5.95 t CO2‐eq ha−1 for paddy rice and maize production, respectively, over no biochar application. As the largest contributors among the others, syngas recycling in the process of biochar manufacture contributed by 47% to total CF reductions under BSA for rice cultivation while SOC sequestration contributed by 57% for maize cultivation. There was a large variability of the CF reductions across the studied sites whether in paddy rice or maize production, due likely to the difference in GHG emission reductions and SOC increments under BSA across the sites. This study emphasized that SOC sequestration should be taken into account the CF calculation of BSA. Improved biochar manufacturing technique could achieve a remarkable carbon sink by recycling the biogas for traditional fossil‐fuel replacement.

Biochar combined with N fertilization and straw return in wheat-maize agroecosystem: Key practices to enhance crop yields and minimize carbon and nitrogen footprints

Regenerative practices can lead to carbon-negative orange groves in Sicily

Strategic tillage achieves lower carbon footprints with higher carbon accumulation and grain yield in a wheat-maize cropping system

Mixed application of controlled-release urea and normal urea can improve crop productivity and reduce the carbon footprint under straw return in winter wheat-summer maize cropping system

Comparison of three tillage systems in the wheat-maize system on carbon sequestration in the North China Plain

Soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration in agricultural soils is an important tool for climate change mitigation within the EU soil strategy for 2030 and can be achieved via the adoption of soil management strategies (SMS). These strategies may induce synergistic effects by simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and/or nitrogen (N) leaching. In contrast, other SMS may stimulate emissions of GHG such as nitrous oxide (N 2 O) or methane (CH 4 ), offsetting the climate change mitigation gained via SOC sequestration. Despite the importance of understanding trade‐offs and synergies for selecting sustainable SMS for European agriculture, knowledge on these effects remains limited. This review synthesizes existing knowledge, identifies knowledge gaps and provides research recommendations on trade‐offs and synergies between SOC sequestration or SOC accrual, non‐CO 2 GHG emissions and N leaching related to selected SMS. We investigated 87 peer‐reviewed articles that address SMS and categorized them under tillage management, cropping systems, water management and fertilization and organic matter (OM) inputs. SMS, such as conservation tillage, adapted crop rotations, adapted water management, OM inputs by cover crops (CC), organic amendments (OA) and biochar, contribute to increase SOC stocks and reduce N leaching. Adoption of leguminous CC or specific cropping systems and adapted water management tend to create trade‐offs by stimulating N 2 O emissions, while specific cropping systems or application of biochar can mitigate N 2 O emissions. The effect of crop residues on N 2 O emissions depends strongly on their C/N ratio. Organic agriculture and agroforestry clearly mitigate CH 4 emissions but the impact of other SMS requires additional study. More experimental research is needed to study the impact of both the pedoclimatic conditions and the long‐term dynamics of trade‐offs and synergies. Researchers should simultaneously assess the impact of (multiple) agricultural SMS on SOC stocks, GHG emissions and N leaching. This review provides guidance to policymakers as well as a framework to design field experiments and model simulations, which can address knowledge gaps and non‐intentional effects of applying agricultural SMS meant to increase SOC sequestration.

Impacts of soil carbon sequestration on life cycle greenhouse gas emissions in Midwestern USA beef finishing systems

Unlocking climate resilience by exploring the mitigation potential of improved rotation with cover cropping.

Using manure compost can be an effective strategy to sustain crop production, mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and promote soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration. However, in the North China Plain (NCP)—a key food hub in China—the disconnect between livestock farms and croplands limits manure recycling, obscuring its potential environmental benefits and economic costs. This study employs a life cycle assessment method to quantify GHG and ammonia emissions, SOC sequestration, economic performance, and the eco-efficiency of wheat–maize production in the NCP across six livestock–cropland coupling scenarios: farmers’ practice (FP), traditional household farming (HF), modern intensive decoupled systems with low (L), medium (M), and high (H) manure returning rates, and an intensive coupled system with optimum manure returning rate (IC). The results show that increasing manure return rates in intensive systems decreases the net global warming potential (NGWP), emphasizing the importance of livestock–cropland re-coupling. Emissions embodied in the field input supply chain was identified as a major NGWP contributor, while SOC accumulation significantly contributed to net GHG mitigation. The IC scenario is both the most economically viable ($322.8 (t grain)−1) and eco-efficient (1.03 kg CO2-eq USD−1) system. With the same compost application rates, intensive farming reduced the NGWP by 26.1% compared to household farming, despite trade-offs between GHG and NH3 emissions. The FP scenario had the highest climate impact (722.8 kg CO2-eq (t grain)−1) and the lowest eco-efficiency (4.91 kg CO2-eq USD−1). These insights advance our understanding of sustainable management practices for pursuing synergistic progress in economic gains, environmental conservation, and sustainable agricultural production.