Managing Soil Carbon
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.
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Lal (2004) indicates that some cultivated soils have lost one-half to two-thirds of their original SOC pool, with a cumulative loss of 30-40 Mg C ha−1.
“Lal (2004) indicates that some cultivated soils have lost one-half to two-thirds of their original SOC pool, with a cumulative loss of 30-40 Mg C ha 21 (i.e. 30”
From Breeding crop plants with deep roots: their role in sustainable carbon, nutrient and water sequestration (2011) · cites this paper as Lal (2004)
Changes in agricultural practice are needed.
“This implies changes in agricultural practice (Robertson et al., 2000;Lal, 2004Lal, , 2008aLal, , b, 2011;;Sartori et al., 2006;Pretty, 2008;Smith et al., 2008;Burney et al., 2010;Follett and Reed, 2010;Smith and Olesen, 2010;Powlson et al., 2011)”
From Breeding crop plants with deep roots: their role in sustainable carbon, nutrient and water sequestration (2011) · cites this paper as Lal, 2004
Cites
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- Authors
- Lal, R., Griffin, M., Apt, J., Lave, L., & Morgan, M. G.
- Affiliations
- The Ohio State University (US)
- Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
- Carnegie Mellon University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Lal, Rattan
- Morgan, M. Granger
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2004-04-16
- Volume
- 304
- Issue
- 5669
- Pages
- 393-393
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2118117588
- Cited by
- 375
- References
- 15
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Management and Crop Yield
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil erosion and sediment transport
- Keywords
- soil carbon, no-tillage, residue mulching, soil erosion, agricultural runoff, soil quality, crop productivity, food security, sustainable agriculture, soil carbon sequestration
- MeSH terms
- Agriculture, Carbon, Ecology, Soil, Crops, Agricultural
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