Effect of no tillage on carbon sequestration and carbon balance in farming ecosystem in dryland area of northern China

• Published in: Nong ye gong cheng xue bao Vol. 31; no. 4; pp. 240 - 247
• Main Authors: Zhang, Hengheng, Yan, Changrong, Zhang, Yanqing, Wang, Jianbo, He, Wenqing, Chen, baoqing, Liu, Enke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Chinese
• Published: 01.02.2015
• Subjects: Carbon; Carbon capture and storage; Emission analysis; Emissions control; Farming; Farms; New technology; Soil (material); Tillage; China, People's Rep
• ISSN: 1002-6819
• DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1002-6819.2015.04.034

Soil conservation tillage practices such as no-tillage and straw mulching are of great significance for saving energy input in farmland,mitigating greenhouse gas emission to the atmosphere, and increasing carbon sequestration potential in soils In our study, carbon emission produced by chemical fertilizer with NT and CT practices accounted for 73.3%-77.1% of total carbon emission from agricultural inputs, and has become the main carbon source. Reducing fertilizer use is an effective means to decrease indirect carbon emission. Because NT reduced moldboard ploughing, chisel ploughing and stover removal, carbon emission from agricultural inputs under NT was 5.1% less than that under CT. There was significant SOC accumulation (0-60 cm) in the NT soil (50.86 Mg/hm super(2)) compared with that in the CT soil (46.00 Mg/hm super(2)). Therefore, long-term NT practice can increase soil carbon sequestration and reduce GHG emissions. These may affect the results, but the trend among the different tillage system remains u