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Report
No.250305 |
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- Technology - |
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Reduction of Tillage to Help to Check Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Agricultural Land According to an announcement by National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences on November 14 of 2007, it found out that the fluctuation of carbon content in soil depends on the amount of compost and other organic matters used as well as on the frequency of tillage. Establishment of specific techniques such as an input amount of organic matters and tillage method that are appropriate to local soil might check emissions of carbon dioxide into the air through an accumulation of carbon in soil, resulting in the contribution to the mitigation of global warming. This will benefit farm households because the soil rich in carbon has a high base exchange capacity. The institute analyzed data of quinquennial soil analysis conducted by national and prefectural agricultural research stations throughout Japan from 1979 to 1998 at 20,000 spots by land category, for example, paddy fields, ordinary upland fields and land under permanent crops. During that period, carbon content decreased in soil at ordinary upland fields, possibly due to the reduction of compost and other organic matters input. On the contrary, the figure rose at land under permanent crops. This would be mainly because the lower frequency of tillage than fields allowed a few oxygen to go into the soil, which suppressed the decomposition of organic matters. Paddy fields did not show any major change since they were filled with water that curbed the decomposition. Based on the results, the institute saw that application of organic matters like crop residue and compost, lower frequency of tillage, and other efforts might allow the accumulation of carbon in soil. "This will contribute to the mitigation of global warming and help to enhance the sustainability and productivity of agriculture", says Dr. Makoto Nakai, Leading Researcher of Natural Resources Inventory Center of the institute. A report released by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in May of 2007 mentions that the increased amount of carbon accumulated in soil can contribute to the mitigation of global warming and that the appropriate management of agricultural land to that end is important. |
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