Managing Soil Carbon | RDL Research Database

Abstract

Current farming practices deplete soil carbon, which degrades soil quality, reduces productivity, and results in the need for more fertilization, irrigation, and pesticides. No-till farming with residue mulching would reverse these effects by slowing soil erosion and pollution runoff, benefiting aquatic ecosystems, improving agronomic productivity, and achieving food security. The authors of this Policy Forum urge support for its wider use. Although there may be short-term yield reductions in some soils and climates, this is a win-win opportunity for the vast majority of the 95% of the cropland that does not use these more sustainable practices.

Keywords

Environmental scienceCarbon fibersSoil carbonEnvironmental chemistryChemistrySoil scienceSoil waterMathematics

Affiliated Institutions

Related Publications

Soil Carbon Sequestration Impacts on Global Climate Change and Food Security

Rattan Lal

The carbon sink capacity of the world's agricultural and degraded soils is 50 to 66% of the historic carbon loss of 42 to 78 gigatons of carbon. The rate of soil organic carbon ...

2004 Science 7677 citations

ACHIEVING SOIL CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN THE UNITED STATES: A CHALLENGE TO THE POLICY MAKERS

Rattan Lal , R. F. Follett , J. M. Kimble

Carbon (C) sequestration in soil implies enhancing the concentrations/pools of soil organic matter and secondary carbonates. It is achieved through adoption of recommended manag...

2003 Soil Science 217 citations

Quantification of the Effect of Soil Organic Matter Content on Soil Productivity

Armand Bauer , A. L. Black

Abstract The positive effects of soil organic matter (OM) on soil properties that influence crop performance are well documented. But definitive and quantitative information of ...

1994 Soil Science Society of America Journal 430 citations

Nitrogen in crop production: An account of global flows

Vaclav Smil

Human activities have roughly doubled the amount of reactive N that enters the element's biospheric cycle. Crop production is by far the single largest cause of this anthropogen...

1999 Global Biogeochemical Cycles 976 citations

Publication Info

Year: 2004
Type: article
Volume: 304
Issue: 5669
Pages: 393-393
Citations: 362
Access: Closed

External Links

View on DOI.org

Social Impact

Altmetric

Managing Soil Carbon

PlumX Metrics

Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions

Citation Metrics

362

OpenAlex

Cite This

APA Style

                            
                                
                                    Rattan Lal, 
                                
                                    W. Michael Griffin, 
                                
                                    Jay Apt
                                
                                et al.
                            
                            (2004). 
                            Managing Soil Carbon. 
                            Science
                            , 304
                            (5669)
                            , 393-393.
                            https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1093079
                        

Identifiers

DOI: 10.1126/science.1093079