Some perspectives on carbon sequestration in agriculture

One of the main options for greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation identified by the IPCC is the sequestration of carbon in soils. Since the breaking of agricultural land in most regions, the carbon stocks have been depleted to such an extent, that they now represent a potential sink for CO2 removal from the atmosphere. Improved management will however, be required to increase the inputs of organic matter in the top soil and/or decrease decomposition rates. In this paper we use data from selected regions to explore the global potential for carbon sequestration in arable soils. While realising that C sequestration is not limited to the selected regions, we have, however, focussed our review on two regions: (i) Canadian Prairies and (ii) The Tropics. In temperate regions, management changes for an increase in C involve increase in cropping frequency (reducing bare fallow), increasing use of forages in crop rotations, reducing tillage intensity and frequency, better crop residue management, and adopting agroforestry. In the tropics, agroforestry remains the primary method by which sequestration rates may be significantly increased. Increases in soil C may be achieved through improved fertility of cropland/pasture; on extensive systems with shifting cultivation cropped fallows and cover crops may be beneficial, and adopting agro forestry or foresting marginal cropland is also an alternative. In addition, in the tropics it is imperative to reduce the clearing of forests for conversion to cropland. Some regional analyses of soil C sequestration and sequestration potential have been performed, mainly for temperate industrialized North America where the majority of research pertaining to C sequestration has been carried out. More research is needed, especially for the Tropics, to more accurately capture the impact of region-specific interactions between climate, soil, and management of resources on C sequestration, which are lost in global level assessments. By itself, C sequestration in agricultural soils can make only modest contributions (3-6% of fossil fuel contributions) to mitigation of overall greenhouse gas emissions. However, effective mitigation policies will not be based on any single 'magic bullet' solutions, but rather on many modest reductions which are economically efficient and which confer additional benefits to society. In this context, soil C sequestration is a significant mitigation option. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.