In-Field Management Practices for Mitigating Soil CO<sub>2</sub> and CH<sub>4</sub> Fluxes under Corn (<i>Zea mays</i>) Production System in Middle Tennessee

Abstract

The United States continues to be the largest corn producer in the world. How to maximize corn yield and at the same time reduce greenhouse gas emissions, is becoming a challenging effort for growers and researchers. As a result, our understanding of the responses of soil CO 2 and CH 4 fluxes to agricultural practices in cornfields is still limited. We conducted a 3-yr cornfield experiment to study the responses of soil CO 2 S. Dennis et al. 368tivity. Our results indicated that agricultural practices enhancing corn yield may also result in a net increase in carbon emissions from soil, hence reducing the potential of carbon sequestration in croplands.