Effect of Long-term Crop Rotation on Productivity, Greenhouse Gas Emission, and Soil Properties

Effect of Long-term Crop Rotation on Productivity, Greenhouse Gas Emission, and Soil Properties PDF Author: Maciej Jerzy Kazula
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 140

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Book Description
To deal with climate change, agricultural practices that ensure continued productivity with a minimal impact on the environment are currently being evaluated. Crop rotation is often neglected due to economic influences, but it has a high potential to maximize resiliency of the corn-based system of the Midwestern region of the United States under uncertain weather patterns. Each study contained in this dissertation serve individually to answer specific questions concerning the impact of crop rotation on crop productivity, greenhouse gas emission and soil quality, but collectively serve to integrate these areas in order to better understand how crop rotation management affects the whole system. This dissertation is a transdisciplinary study grouped in five chapters where continuous corn (CC), 2-yr corn-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] (CS), and 3-yr corn-soybean-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) (CSW) rotations were studied in a multi-site and multi-year experiment in Wisconsin in order to evaluate their impact on: (i) crop productivity, accumulation and partitioning of carbon and nitrogen, within corn plant components; (ii) greenhouse gas emission to identify the main sources of emission and to assess potential opportunities for emission reduction; and iii) key soil physical and chemical properties to determine any changes that may impact soil health. The last chapter integrated these impacts to: (iv) test the biogeochemical DAYCENT model against field collected data to estimate emission of nitrous oxide (N2O) during the non-vegetative period when field measurements were not collected, and (v) to simulate future rotation effects on N2O and crop yield responses under different climate change scenarios.

Effect of Long-term Crop Rotation on Productivity, Greenhouse Gas Emission, and Soil Properties

Effect of Long-term Crop Rotation on Productivity, Greenhouse Gas Emission, and Soil Properties PDF Author: Maciej Jerzy Kazula
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 140

Get Book Here

Book Description
To deal with climate change, agricultural practices that ensure continued productivity with a minimal impact on the environment are currently being evaluated. Crop rotation is often neglected due to economic influences, but it has a high potential to maximize resiliency of the corn-based system of the Midwestern region of the United States under uncertain weather patterns. Each study contained in this dissertation serve individually to answer specific questions concerning the impact of crop rotation on crop productivity, greenhouse gas emission and soil quality, but collectively serve to integrate these areas in order to better understand how crop rotation management affects the whole system. This dissertation is a transdisciplinary study grouped in five chapters where continuous corn (CC), 2-yr corn-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] (CS), and 3-yr corn-soybean-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) (CSW) rotations were studied in a multi-site and multi-year experiment in Wisconsin in order to evaluate their impact on: (i) crop productivity, accumulation and partitioning of carbon and nitrogen, within corn plant components; (ii) greenhouse gas emission to identify the main sources of emission and to assess potential opportunities for emission reduction; and iii) key soil physical and chemical properties to determine any changes that may impact soil health. The last chapter integrated these impacts to: (iv) test the biogeochemical DAYCENT model against field collected data to estimate emission of nitrous oxide (N2O) during the non-vegetative period when field measurements were not collected, and (v) to simulate future rotation effects on N2O and crop yield responses under different climate change scenarios.

Soil Management and Climate Change

Soil Management and Climate Change PDF Author: Maria Angeles Munoz
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0128121297
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description
Soil Management and Climate Change: Effects on Organic Carbon, Nitrogen Dynamics, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions provides a state of the art overview of recent findings and future research challenges regarding physical, chemical and biological processes controlling soil carbon, nitrogen dynamic and greenhouse gas emissions from soils. This book is for students and academics in soil science and environmental science, land managers, public administrators and legislators, and will increase understanding of organic matter preservation in soil and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. Given the central role soil plays on the global carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles and its impact on greenhouse gas emissions, there is an urgent need to increase our common understanding about sources, mechanisms and processes that regulate organic matter mineralization and stabilization, and to identify those management practices and processes which mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, helping increase organic matter stabilization with suitable supplies of available N. Provides the latest findings about soil organic matter stabilization and greenhouse gas emissions Covers the effect of practices and management on soil organic matter stabilization Includes information for readers to select the most suitable management practices to increase soil organic matter stabilization

Sustainable Intensification

Sustainable Intensification PDF Author: Jules N. Pretty
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136529276
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Continued population growth, rapidly changing consumption patterns and the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation are driving limited resources of food, energy, water and materials towards critical thresholds worldwide. These pressures are likely to be substantial across Africa, where countries will have to find innovative ways to boost crop and livestock production to avoid becoming more reliant on imports and food aid. Sustainable agricultural intensification - producing more output from the same area of land while reducing the negative environmental impacts - represents a solution for millions of African farmers. This volume presents the lessons learned from 40 sustainable agricultural intensification programmes in 20 countries across Africa, commissioned as part of the UK Government's Foresight project. Through detailed case studies, the authors of each chapter examine how to develop productive and sustainable agricultural systems and how to scale up these systems to reach many more millions of people in the future. Themes covered include crop improvements, agroforestry and soil conservation, conservation agriculture, integrated pest management, horticulture, livestock and fodder crops, aquaculture, and novel policies and partnerships.

Climate Change and Global Crop Productivity

Climate Change and Global Crop Productivity PDF Author: K. R. Reddy
Publisher: CABI
ISBN: 9780851997094
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 492

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Book Description
Annotation. Worldwide climatic changes have been raising concerns about potential changes to crop yields and production systems. Such concerns include the ability to accommodate these uncertain effects in order to ensure an adequate food supply for an increasing population. Written by leadinginternational experts, this book is the first comprehensive examination of the potential effects climate change, particularly green house gases, will have on agroecosystems. It also reviews the effects such systems have on climate change itself.

Climate Change Effect on Crop Productivity

Climate Change Effect on Crop Productivity PDF Author: Rakesh S. Sengar
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 148222920X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 542

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Book Description
Explore the Relationship between Crop and Climate Agricultural sustainability has been gaining prominence in recent years and is now becoming the focal point of modern agriculture. Recognizing that crop production is very sensitive to climate change, Climate Change Effect on Crop Productivity explores this timely topic in-depth. Incorporating contributions by expert scientists, professors, and researchers from around the world, it emphasizes concerns about the current state of agriculture and of our environment. This text analyzes the global consequences to crop yields, production, and risk of hunger linking climate and socioeconomic scenarios. Addresses Biotechnology, Climate Change, and Plant Productivity The book contains 19 chapters covering issues such as CO2, ozone on plants, productivity fertilization effect, UV (ultraviolet) radiation, temperature, and stress on crop growth. The text discusses the impact of changing climate on agriculture, environment stress physiology, adaptation mechanism, climate change data of recent years, impact of global warming, and climate change on different crops. It explores the overall global picture in terms of the effect of crops to climate change during abiotic stress and considers strategies for offsetting and adapting to ongoing climate change. Details how and why climate change occurs and how it effects crop productivity and agriculture Considers what measures should be taken to mitigate the effect of climate change on agriculture Highlights the effect of climate change on crop productivity, the invention of new technology, and strategies for agriculture practice to adapt to climate change Provides an analysis of the global warming effect on crop productivity due to climate change and long-term agriculture technique development Confirms the asymmetry between potentially severe agricultural damages such as the effect on crop yield due to variation in temperature Reports on the results of experiments to assess the effects of global climate change on crop productivity An asset to agriculturists, environmentalists, climate change specialists, policy makers, and research scholars, Climate Change Effect on Crop Productivity provides relevant information and opportunities for productive engagement and discussion among government negotiators, experts, stakeholders, and others concerned about climate change and agriculture.

Life Cycle Assessment of Select Agricultural Practices

Life Cycle Assessment of Select Agricultural Practices PDF Author: Mukesh Dev Bhattarai
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agriculture
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
Climate change may have detrimental effects on agriculture productivity (Challinor et al., 2009). At the same time, agriculture also plays a role in contributing to the causes of global warming (IPCC, 2009). The present research examined current agro-management practices of select agriculture management practices and products with a threefold objective, namely i) to understand the possible impact of climate change on crop yields, ii) to examine the carbon sequestration potential of select agricultural crops and management practices, and iii) to conduct a thorough life cycle assessment to estimate the carbon footprint of select agriculture crops and management practices, so as to help policy makers, planners and business managers in devising appropriate mitigation and adaptation policy frameworks and make sensible management decisions in the context of climate change. The research was conducted in a series of three studies. The first study investigated future corn and soybean yields in the Raccoon watershed in the US Corn Belt using projected climate data. This study used the Environment Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model to estimate the impact of climate change for 2015--2099 with data downscaled from eight atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (AOGCMs) with three emissions pathways reflecting low, medium and high greenhouse gas scenarios. Soil properties were gathered from the Soil Survey Geographic Database and data on crop rotation was derived from CropScape, a geospatial cropland data layer product of the US National Agricultural Statistics Service. The study also examined the possible impact of carbon fertilization on yields. The results show that carbon fertilization of soybean, a C3 plant, may contribute to an increase in yield of 3% to 22% while its contribution to the growth of corn, a C4 plant, will be much lower. The second study focused on land-based carbon sequestration possibilities. Land-based carbon sequestration constitutes a major low cost and immediately viable option in climate change mitigation. Using downscaled data from eight atmosphere-ocean general circulation models for a simulation period between 2015 and 2099, the study examined the carbon sequestration potential of alternative agricultural land uses in an intensively farmed Corn Belt watershed and the impact of climate change on crop yields including impact on switchgrass. The results of the study show that switching from conventional tillage and continuous corn to no-till corn-soybean can sequester the equivalent of 192.1 MtCO 2 eq of soil organic carbon per hectare with a sequestration rate of 2.26 MtCO2 eq ha-1 yr-1. The results also indicate that switchgrass can sequester the equivalent of 310.7 MtCO 2 eq of soil organic carbon per hectare with a sequestration rate of 3.65 MtCO2 eq ha-1 yr-1. The findings of this research suggest that climate change does not have a significant effect on switchgrass yields, unlike on corn and soybean yields, possibly due to the carbon fertilization effect. As mentioned, agriculture can contribute to climate change mitigation efforts by providing low-land-based options through changes in agricultural management practices. A thorough life cycle assessment is necessary to compare various opportunities provided by a variety of agricultural approaches. The last study is a cradle-to-farm gate life cycle assessment of the contributions of select agricultural practices to mitigate global warming. The study focused on land-based practices including crop rotations instead of just individual crops. In the assessment, the study also included examinations of below-the-ground soil to determine the organic carbon sequestration potential of such practices, which most of the time is ignored in life cycle assessments due to lack of data. Specifically, the study examined three farming practices in the intensively farmed Raccoon watershed: continuous corn rotation with conventional tillage, corn-soybean rotation with no-till, and switchgrass. The assessment was conducted based on land units (hectares), instead of utilizing the usual practice of reporting life cycle assessment in product units, such as kilograms. The results of the life cycle assessment reveal that among the three agricultural practices, switchgrass has the lowest carbon footprint overall, and continuous corn rotation has the highest. Switching from continuous corn to switchgrass would reduce the overall greenhouse gases the most, by 6.30 Mg CO2eq/ha/yr, or by 62% compared to the emissions generated by the continuous corn rotation. Similarly, planting switchgrass instead of a corn-soybean rotation would reduce the overall emissions of greenhouse gases by 1.84 Mg CO2eq/ha/yr, or by 32% compared to the corn-soybean rotation. Finally, switching from continuous corn to the corn-soybean rotation would reduce overall greenhouse gases emissions by 4.46 Mg CO2eq/ha/yr or by 44% of the emissions generated by continuous corn. These findings can inform policy discussions on the potential of agriculture's role in climate change mitigation. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.)

The Potential of U.S. Cropland to Sequester Carbon and Mitigate the Greenhouse Effect

The Potential of U.S. Cropland to Sequester Carbon and Mitigate the Greenhouse Effect PDF Author: John M. Kimble
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 9781575041124
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Book Description
This report assesses the potential of U.S. cropland to sequester carbon, concluding that properly applied soil restorative processes and best management practices can help mitigate the greenhouse effect by decreasing the emissions of greenhouse gases from U.S. agricultural activities and by making U.S. cropland a major sink for carbon sequestration. Topics include: Describe the greenhouse processes and global tends in emissions as well as the three principal components of anthropogenic global warming potential Present data on U.S. emissions and agriculture's related role Examines the soil organic carbon (SOC) pool in soils of the U.S. and its loss due to cultivation Provides a reference for the magnitude of carbon sequestration potential Analyzes the primary processes governing greenhouse gas emission from the pedosphere Establishes a link between SOC content and soil quality Outlines strategies for mitigating emissions from U.S. cropland Discusses soil erosion management Assesses the potential of using cropland to create biomass for direct fuel to produce power Details the potential for sequestering carbon by intensifying prime agricultural land The Potential of U.S. Cropland to Sequester Carbon and Mitigate the Greenhouse Effect provides an exceptional framework for the adoption of science-based management methods on U.S. cropland, encouraging appropriate agricultural practices for the sustainable use of our natural resources and the improvement of our nation's environment.

Conservation Agriculture: A Sustainable Approach for Soil Health and Food Security

Conservation Agriculture: A Sustainable Approach for Soil Health and Food Security PDF Author: Somasundaram Jayaraman
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 981160827X
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 626

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Book Description
Feeding the increasing global population, which is projected to reach ~10 billion by 2050, there has been increasing demands for more improved/sustainable agricultural management practices that can be followed by farmers to improve productivity without jeopardizing the environment and ecosystem. Indeed, about 95% of our food directly or indirectly comes from soil. It is a precious resource, and sustainable soil management is a critical socio–economic and environmental issue. Maintaining the environmental sustainability while the world is facing resource degradation, increasing climate change and population explosion is the current challenge of every food production sectors. Thus, there is an urgent need to evolve a holistic approach such as conservation agriculture to sustain higher crop productivity in the country without deteriorating soil health. Conservation Agriculture (CA), is a sustainable approach to manage agro–ecosystems in order to improve productivity, increase farm profitabilty and food security and also enhance the resource base and environment. Worldwide, it has been reported various benefits and prospects in adopting CA technologies in different agro-climatic conditions. Yet, CA in arid and semi-arid regions of India and parts of south Asia raises uncertainities due to its extreme climates, large scale residue burning, soil erosion and other constraints such as low water holding capacity, high potential evapotranspiration, etc . Thus, the proposed book has 30 chapters addressing all issues relevant to conservation agriculture/no-till farming system. The book also gives further strengthening existing knowledge in relation to soil physical, chemical and biological processes and health within close proximity of CA as well as machinery requirements. Moreover, the information on carbon (C) sequestration, C credits, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, mitigation of climate change effects and socio-economic view on CA under diverse ecologies namely rainfed, irrigated and hill eco-region is also deliberated. For large scale adoption of CA practices in South Asian region especially in India and other countries need dissemination of best-bet CA technologies for dominant soil types/cropping systems through participatory mode, strong linkages and institutional mechanism and public-private-policy support. We hope this book gives a comprehensive and clear picture about conservation agriculture/no-till farming and its associated problem, challenges, prospects and benefits. This book shall be highly useful reference material to researchers, scientists, students, farmers and land managers for efficient and sustainable management of natural resources.

Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-food Sector

Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-food Sector PDF Author: Bruno Notarnicola
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319119400
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
The book presents an overview of the International practices and state-of-the-art of LCA studies in the agri-food sector, both in terms of adopted methodologies and application to particular products; the final purpose is to characterise and put order within the methodological issues connected to some important agri-food products (wine, olive oil, cereals and derived products, meat and fruit) and also defining practical guidelines for the implementation of LCAs in this particular sector. The first chapter entails an overview of the application of LCA to the food sector, the role of the different actors of the food supply chain and the methodological issues at a general level. The other chapters, each with a particular reference to the main foods of the five sectors under study, have a common structure which entails the review of LCA case studies of such agri-food products, the methodological issues, the ways with which they have been faced and the suggestion of practical guidelines.

Analysis of Generalized Linear Mixed Models in the Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences

Analysis of Generalized Linear Mixed Models in the Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences PDF Author: Edward E. Gbur
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780891181835
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
Generalized Linear Mixed Models in the Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences provides readers with an understanding and appreciation for the design and analysis of mixed models for non-normally distributed data. It is the only publication of its kind directed specifically toward the agricultural and natural resources sciences audience. Readers will especially benefit from the numerous worked examples based on actual experimental data and the discussion of pitfalls associated with incorrect analyses.