Can cropland management practices lower net greenhouse emissions without compromising yield?
Abstract
Abstract Smart cropland management practices can mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while safeguarding food security. However, the integrated effects on net greenhouse gas budget (NGHGB) and grain yield from different management practices remain poorly defined and vary with environmental and application conditions. Here, we conducted a global meta‐analysis on 347 observation sets of non‐CO 2 GHG (CH 4 and N 2 O) emissions and grain yield, and 412 observations of soil organic carbon sequestration rate (SOCSR). Our results show that for paddy rice, replacing synthetic nitrogen at the rate of 30%–59% with organic fertilizer significantly decreased net GHG emissions (NGHGB: −15.3 ± 3.4 [standard error], SOCSR: −15.8 ± 3.8, non‐CO 2 GHGs: 0.6 ± 0.1 in Mg CO 2 eq ha −1 year −1 ) and improved rice yield (0.4 ± 0.1 in Mg ha −1 year −1 ). In contrast, intermittent irrigation significantly increased net GHG emissions by 11.2 ± 3.1 and decreased rice yield by 0.4 ± 0.1. The reduction in SOC sequestration by intermittent irrigation (15.5 ± 3.3), which was most severe (>20) in alkaline soils (pH > 7.5), completely offset the mitigation in CH 4 emissions. Straw return for paddy rice also led to a net increase in GHG emissions (NGHGB: 4.8 ± 1.4) in silt‐loam soils, where CH 4 emissions (6.3 ± 1.3) were greatly stimulated. For upland cropping systems, mostly by enhancing SOC sequestration, straw return (NGHGB: −3.4 ± 0.8, yield: −0.5 ± 0.6) and no‐tillage (NGHGB: −2.9 ± 0.7, yield: −0.1 ± 0.3) were more effective in warm climates. This study highlights the importance of carefully managing croplands to sequester SOC without sacrifice in yield while limiting CH 4 emissions from rice paddies.
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Optimization of fertilizer and water use in croplands can greatly reduce GHG emissions in crop production systems.
“Optimization of fertilizer and water use in croplands can greatly reduce GHG emissions in crop production systems.115”
From Technologies and perspectives for achieving carbon neutrality (2021) · cites this paper as [115]
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Technologies and perspectives for achieving carbon neutrality
Wang, F., Harindintwali, J. D., Yuan, Z., Wang, M., Wang, F., Li, S., Yin, Z., Huang, L., Fu, Y., Li, L., et al. (2021) · The Innovation · doi:10.1016/j.xinn.2021.100180 · Cited by 1,330 · see citing works
- Authors
- Shang, Z., Abdalla, M., Xia, L., Zhou, F., Sun, W., & Smith, P.
- Affiliations
- University of Aberdeen (GB)
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (DE)
- Peking University (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Shang, Ziyin
- Venue
- Global Change Biology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2021-07-20
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 19
- Pages
- 4657-4670
- ISSN
- 1354-1013 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2486
- OpenAlex
- W3174098186
- Cited by
- 142
- References
- 79
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 40 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 1.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Global Change Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Aberdeen University Research Archive (Aberdeen University) (submittedVersion)
- Institute of Botany, CAS Institutional Repository (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (774124)
- China Scholarship Council (201706010406)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Rice Cultivation and Yield Improvement
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Agricultural Science and Fertilization
- Keywords
- cropland management, soil organic carbon sequestration, methane emissions, nitrous oxide emissions, paddy rice, intermittent irrigation, organic fertilizer, straw incorporation, no-tillage, grain yield, food security, alkaline soils, warm climate
- MeSH terms
- Agriculture, Carbon, China, Methane, Nitrous Oxide, Oryza, Soil, Greenhouse Effect, Crops, Agricultural
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