Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability
Year : 2020, Volume : 8, Issue : 1
First page : ( 100) Last page : ( 102)
Print ISSN : 2320-6411. Online ISSN : 2320-642X.
Article DOI : 10.5958/2320-642X.2020.00011.3

Soil Carbon Sequestration: A Nature-based Solution for Improving Soil Quality and Reducing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

Srivastava Pankaj

Soil Science and Agronomy Division, ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, 218 Kaulagarh Road, Dehradun-248195, Uttarakhand, India. Email: pksnbri@gmail.com

Online published on 19 August, 2020.

Abstract

Climate change is one of the major concerns for food security and livelihood of human beings. Land degradation and Soil erosion are the main threats to our land especially in developing countries. It is estimated that approximately 30% land has been degraded by various human activities. Restoration techniques include conservation agriculture, reduced tillage and biochar addition may cause additional beneficial impacts on soil properties. With the increasing concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere integrated practices with soil carbon sequestration (SCS) will also a better option for future generation. Conservation agriculture (CA) practices with integrated organic amendment will provide a new option for sustainable agriculture in India. Biochar is a rich source of carbon in soil, prepared from various agricultural wastes and from dry biomass of the plant. Biochar enhances the soil organic carbon (SOC) and cation exchange capacity (CEC) of soil. The type of biochar is prepared based on the various environmental applications in the field. The current article provides a brief overview of various strategies for soil carbon sequestration with the implications for greenhouse gas mitigation and soil quality improvement.

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Keywords

Atmospheric, Carbon, Reducing, Sequestration, Soil quality, Soil.

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