Soil Recarbonization Potential of Crop Residues and their Management through Inter-Convertible Carbon Triangle (ICCtriangle)

Abstract

Intensive cropping is a major cause of depleting soil organic carbon (SOC) eventually leading to soil infertility. Restoration of depleted SOC requires renewable sources of organic amendments. Crop residue (CR), mostly lost due to burning in many parts of the world, is a generously available renewable source of organic carbon (OC) that can be used for soil recarbonization. The study presents an overview of the OC losses and pollution due to residue burning in India and explores the perspective of using surplus CR to restore SOC and promote ecosystem services for sustainable agriculture. We reviewed and quantified the magnitude of CR generated, and its fertilization potential in the Indo-Gangetic Region (IGR), an intensively cultivated region of India where rice straw burning is prevalent. A novel concept of interconvertible carbon triangle (ΔICC) is proposed based on the three carbon pools, SOC from the soil, CO2,/CO from the atmosphere and organic carbon (OC) from plant biomass to assess the instability of an agricultural land and estimate the SOC requirements based on the crop production data. The study reviews the availability of OC and other nutrients in CR and professes the need of technologies to divert the surplus CR to improving soil fertility and mitigate environmental pollution due to agricultural burnings.