Dr. Dharani Dhar Patra
Seacom Skills University, India
Title: Soil Management for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
Abstract:
Global
temperature increased by 1.10C and is expected to increase 3.50C
by 2100.The consequences are shifting in seasons, variability and intensity in
rainfall, sea level rising and cyclone; other tectonic processes are becoming
fiercer and frequent. There is an eternal relationship between climate, soil
and agriculture. Soil has become part of the global agenda for climate change
mitigation and adaptation through launch of high level initiatives (Amelung et
al, 2020).
Sequestering
organic C in soil may potentially, and in a technically feasible manner, removes between
0.79 and 1.54 Gt C per year from the atmosphere, recognizing the
substantial potential of soils in stabilizing the climate (Fuss et al, 2018; Rumpel,et
al, 2018). Soil management for climate change mitigation has been drawing
particular interest in recent years. While soil represents the largest pool of
C in the terrestrial ecosystem, the emission N2O, CH4 and
CO2 from soil represent significant load and GHG balance.
Improving
soil structure and fertility enhances the soil's capacity to sequester carbon,
thereby mitigating the effects of greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, the microbial activities are essential to
maintaining soil biodiversity, a crucial aspect of ecosystem resilience. Soil
microorganisms play a crucial role in the cycling of soil organic carbon and
nitrogen, but we still lack sufficient scientific knowledge to build
qualitative predictive models in the context of soil use and management.
Soils
potential to store CO2 has not received enough attention over the
last years while formulating the strategy against the greenhouse effect. Using the soil’s capacity to bind large quantities of C
could reduce the increase of the greenhouse gas CO2 in the
atmosphere by a third. At the same time agricultural yields in many regions
would also improve significantly.
Nitrogen,
an essential input for maintaining soil fertility and crop yield, remaining in
excess , is converted to N2O, a greenhouse gas which has 298 times
warming potential of CO2 ( Hou, 2021). Nitrous oxide emission
factors may be region specific and vary under different climate conditions.Limitation
of C sequestration for climate change mitigation has several constraints viz. the
quantity of C stored in soil is finite; the process is reversible and even if
SOC is increased there may be changes in the fluxes of other greenhouse gases
especially N2O and CH4.
The climate change benefit of increased SOC from enhanced crop growth, must be
balanced against greenhouse gas emission with manufacture and use of
fertilizers (Powlson, 2012)
The climate summit in Paris in 2015
was also the birth of the so-called "4 per 1,000" initiative. Its
name stands for a link that has not received enough attention in climate
research and politics for a long time: Every year, the amount of carbon in the
atmosphere increases by more than four billion tons due to the man-made
greenhouse gas CO2.
Over the past decade, agriculture has gone from sinner to
saviour in the context of global warming. As per World Bank report “some 30
percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are attributable to
agriculture and deforestation driven by the expansion of crop and livestock
production for food, fiber and fuel.”
Soil and soil science can play an important role in
mitigating climate change, by enhancing carbon sequestration in soil, as well
as reducing net emissions of N2O, CO2 and CH4.
As soil organic matter can also increase crop yield, enhance soil biodiversity
and immobilize some soil pollutants, the intervention strategies aiming at
improving SOC can also render great benefits in ensuring food security and soil
health. Therefore, in mitigating climate change effects, sustainable soil use
and management practices could provide multiple benefits for humanity.
References:
Amelung W
et al (2020) Nat Commun. 2020 Oct 27;11(1):5427.doi:
10.1038/s41467-020-18887-7
Powlson DS et al (2012)https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2389.2020.01342.x
Hou
D ( 2021)https://doi.org/10.1111/sum.12718
Rumpel
C et al (2018) Nature 564, 32-34
Fuss et al (2018) Environ Res Lett 13,63002
Biography:
Prof Dharani Dhar Patra, presently working as the Director of School of
Agricultural sciences, JIS University, Kolkata, India (2020-2023), has been the
Vice Chancellor of Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswa Vidyalaya, Kolkata, India
(2016-2020) and Professor-cum-Chief Scientist (Natural Resource Management) at
CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow, India ( Under
Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, New Delhi, India(
1987-2015). Prof Patra did his Graduation and post-Graduation from from BCKV,
India did his PhD from Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India
(1978-1982) and then went to Rothamsted, UK for post-doctoral research and
subsequently joined Rajasthan Agricultural University, As an Assistant
Peofessor in NRM (1982-1987).
Prof
Patra is a recipient of several Awards viz.National Fellowship, 1971; FAI
Silver Jubilee Award, 1980; FAI Gold Medal, 1983; Commonwealth Fellow, 1983;
STA Fellow, 1999;Mint Technology Award,
1999; PPIC (Canada) - FAI Gold Medal, 2000; FICCI Award 2005; 12th International
Congress Commemoration Award, 2005;
UPCAR Eminent Scientist Award (NRM), 2006; ISCA
Platinum Jubilee Award 2008. Golden Peacock Eco-Innovation International
Award, 2008. CSIR S&T Award for Rural Development, 2008.CSIR-Best Scientist
Award on Agri-entrepreneurship, 2015.