Strategies of Climate Change Mitigation in Agriculture Plant Production—A Critical Review

Abstract

Agriculture is the second-highest, after energy use, source of greenhouse gas emissions, which are released from soils and animal digestion processes and as a result of energy consumption at various stages of agricultural production. However, changes in the management of agricultural systems may mitigate the negative impact of this sector on the atmosphere and climate. This paper presents a literature review on energy consumption in agriculture and the potential of agricultural crop production to assist in mitigation of global warming by increasing absorption of CO2 from the atmosphere. The issue was considered in the context of managing the cultivation of main, catch and cover crops. The potential of carbon sequestration in the above- and below-ground biomass of selected crops was analyzed. It was stated that, depending on the species, main crops can sequester up to 113 CO2 ha−1 yr−1 in whole biomass, while catch or cover crops can sequester up to 14.80 CO2 ha−1 yr−1 and 0.17 CO2 ha−1 yr−1 in the above- and below-ground biomass, respectively. The benefits of the spread of catch or cover crops, such as improvement of soil quality (leading to an increase in primary crop yield by even as much as 65%) and a phytosanitary effect, as well as the barriers that limit the use of catch crops, including the problems with matching crop species to climate and soil conditions and the risk of reducing farmers’ income, were considered. The results of the review show that catch crops can assimilate an additional amount of 4 to 6 tonnes CO2 ha−1 yr−1, and thus, spreading of catch crops is an effective way to reduce the climate impact of agriculture.

Assessing Agricultural Impact on Greenhouse Gases in the European Union: A Climate-Smart Agriculture Perspective

“…The implementation of CSA practices not only aims to improve agricultural technologies but also to adapt to unstable climatic conditions, ensuring sustainable and reliable food production [32,33]. However, the variety of findings in the literature underscores the complexity of implementing CSA practices, requiring consideration of local circumstances and long-term impact evaluation [34][35][36][37]. Supporting farmers in adopting sustainable agricultural practices is essential for successful CSA implementation [28,38,39].…”

“…The use of organic fertilizers can also reduce water, nitrogen, and carbon footprints and increase carbon sequestration [73,74]. Building carbon sinks and sequestering them is an effective way to offset GHG and contribute to combating climate change [34]. Furthermore, increasing carbon sequestration can enhance crop yield [75].…”

Carbon Stock, Carbon Fraction and Nitrogen Fraction of Soil Under Bamboo (Dendrocalamus asper Back.) and Non-Bamboo Vegetation

“…Soil is a storehouse of absorption/storage of carbon from the atmosphere through plants (Lal et al, 2015). Management of aboveground vegetation is considered one of the strategies for climate change mitigation and is related to carbon storage (Kwiatkowski et al, 2023). Sustainable agriculture is an effort to maintain the survival of farmers, resources and communities with more environmentally friendly and profitable farming practices (Mehmet Tuğrul, 2020).…”

Indicators of Engine Performance Powered by a Biofuel Blend Produced from Microalgal Biomass: A Step towards the Decarbonization of Transport

“…For the combustion of biofuels, the aspect of carbon dioxide capture from the atmosphere during the growth of the biomass used to produce the biofuel should also be considered. For example, the total carbon sequestration in winter oilseed rape biomass, including primary, secondary, and root yield (less than 10 t•ha −1 ), was 15.6 t CO 2 ha −1 •yr −1 [69]. Theoretically, using solar energy, 280 tonnes of dry algal biomass can be produced per hectare per year, using around 513 tonnes of CO 2 [70].…”