Carbon Economics of Different Agricultural Practices for Farming Soil

TL;DR

This review explores how various agricultural practices such as cover cropping, conservation tillage, and agroforestry influence soil organic carbon levels, aiming to enhance soil health and agricultural sustainability.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive synthesis of how different farming practices impact soil organic carbon dynamics and offers insights into optimizing practices for carbon sequestration.

Findings

Cover crops increase microbial activity and organic carbon breakdown.

Conservation tillage improves soil structure and carbon retention.

Agroforestry enhances organic carbon input and nutrient cycling.

Abstract

The loss of soil organic carbon (SOC) poses a severe danger to agricultural sustainability around the World. This review examines various farming practices and their impact on soil organic carbon storage. After a careful review of the literature, most of the research indicated that different farming practices, such as organic farming, cover crops, conservation tillage, and agroforestry, play vital roles in increasing the SOC content of the soil sustainably. Root exudation from cover crops increases microbial activity and helps break down complex organic compounds into organic carbon. Conservation tillage enhances the soil structure and maintains carbon storage without disturbing the soil. Agroforestry systems boost organic carbon input and fasten nutrient cycling because the trees and crops have symbiotic relationships. Intercropping and crop rotations have a role in changing the composition of plant residues and promoting carbon storage. There were many understanding on the complex interactions between soil organic carbon dynamics and agricultural practices. Based on the study, the paper reveals, the role of different agricultural practices like Carbon storage through cover crops, crop rotation, mulching Conservation tillage, conventional tillage, zero tillage and organic amendments in organic carbon storage in the soil for maximum crop yield to improve the economic condition of the cultivators.