Study Shows Improved Agricultural Management Leads to Healthier Soil

FALMOUTH – A new study in the journal SOIL finds that, as farmers increase the amount of carbon stored in their soil through improved management practices, the biological activity in the soil is also stimulated, resulting in healthier, more productive soils.

The agricultural sector has recently received significant attention for its potential to mitigate climate change through sequestering carbon in soils – some studies have estimated that by implementing best farming practices soils could sequester 400-1100 million tons of carbon annually.

Sequestering carbon as organic matter also locks up nutrients, which may present a hidden cost.

There was three times as much organic matter in the soil of the most productive crop rotation compared to that of the least productive crop rotation.

Importantly, the study found that the soil organic matter was also being decomposed three times as fast, indicating that there was no apparent tradeoff between sequestering and using organic matter for these management practices.

The ability to build soil carbon while also increasing nutrient provision could prompt a sharper focus on policies that promote effective soil carbon management.

This work also adds to the growing body of research demonstrating that important biological feedbacks are missing in most model representations of soil carbon cycling.

About CapeCod.com NewsCenter

The award-winning CapeCod.com NewsCenter provides the Cape Cod community with a constant, credible source for local news. We are on the job seven days a week.



CapeCod.com
737 West Main Street
Hyannis, MA 02601
Contact Us | Advertise Terms of Use 
Employment and EEO | Privacy