Sequestering carbon in agricultural soils: What works?
Webinar Details
When:
Feb 12, 2019 1:00 pm US/Eastern
Length: 01:00 (hh:mm)
Advance Registration NOT required.
View now on-demand.
Presenter(s):
- Dr. Sara Via, Professor and Climate Extension Specialist, Dept. of Entomology & University of Maryland Extension, University of Maryland, College Park
Virtual Event Format:
Group Viewing Available:
Participants will learn how carbon is sequestered in agricultural soils and how agriculture can contribute to climate change mitigation and help Maryland reach its GHG reduction goals.
Plants remove carbon from the atmosphere in photosynthesis. Some of this carbon is stored in the soil after processing by soil microbes, preventing it from contributing to the greenhouse effect. Figure from Kumar S. et al. (2018) Role of Legumes in Soil
The impacts of climate change are becoming more pronounced each year, and greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to avoid the worst case scenarios for the future. However, emissions reductions alone will not be enough. We also need to remove carbon from the atmosphere. This webinar concerns strategies for sequestering carbon in agricultural soils—commonly known as “carbon farming”. Based on a review of the scientific literature, Dr. Via will highlight a set of evidence-based strategies for sequestering carbon on farms and consider promising practices that require further research and validation. These strategies have been chosen to align with NRCS conservation practices and many are already used in Maryland to reduce nutrient flows to Chesapeake Bay. Using records of acreages enrolled in each practice from 2007-2017 from the Maryland Department of Agriculture and estimates of GHG reductions/acre/year from COMET-Planner, we found that agriculture can make a substantial contribution toward mitigating climate change. Maryland is currently developing an incentive program to increase the use of these evidence-based carbon-sequestering practices, which will help the state meet its ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals. The economic and environmental costs and benefits of each practice, as well as barriers to increasing the use of these practices will also be discussed.
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