Carbon sequestration opportunities in organic agriculture

At the present time, soil carbon sequestration is of paramount importance to address the imminent threat of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide, which is looming large on the very survival and existence of the biome. The quantum of all carbon everywhere in the globe is same and fixed. It exists to the tune of 800 Pg in the atmosphere, 1700 Pg in terrestrial and 38000 Pg in aquatic ecosystem. Even though, the terrestrial carbon stock is quite meagre in comparision to aquatic carbon stock, yet it warrants attention because it is readily amenable to anthropogenic manipulations and potentially respond to modifications and management. The potential for carbon sequestration in crop-based agriculture globally is 20-30 Pg carbon, whereas, that of -1 India is 0.039-0.049 Pg carbon y or about 47% of current annual fossil fuel emission. The quantity of soil organic carbon (SOC) that will be stored in an ecosystem depends on quantity and quality of organic matter returned to the soil matrix, ability of soil to retain organic carbon and abiotic influences of both temperature and precipitation. Hence, organic agriculture holds added promise to sequester and enhance the SOC pool.