A comprehensive assessment of policy impact on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural soils requires careful consideration of both socio-economic aspects and the environmental heterogeneity of the landscape. We developed a modelling framework that links the large-scale economic model for agriculture CAPRI (Common Agricultural Policy Regional Impact assessment) with the biogeochemistry...

INTRODUCTION In Italy, the current legislation for contaminants in soils provides two land uses: residential/public or private gardens and commercial/industrial; there are not specific reference values for agricultural soils, even if a special decree has been developed and is currently going through the legislative approval process. The topic of agricultural areas is relevant, also in considera...

Increasing diffuse nitrate loading of surface waters and groundwater has emerged as a major problem in many agricultural areas of the world, resulting in contamination of drinking water resources in aquifers as well as eutrophication of freshwaters and coastal marine ecosystems. Although empirical correlations between application rates of N fertilizers to agricultural soils and nitrate contamin...

Most agricultural crops cultivated in Brazil are highly nutrient demanding. Brazilian soils are generally acidic with low base saturation and available nutrients. Demand for fertilizer application has increased because the national agricultural sector expansion. To improve productivity without environmental impact, there is the need for the utilization of novel procedures and techniques to opti...

Agricultural tillage practices are important human-induced activities that can alter carbon emissions from agricultural soils and have the potential to significantly contribute to reductions in greenhouse gas emission (Lal et al, 1998). This research investigates the expected costs of sequestering carbon in agricultural soils under different subsidy and market-based policies. Using the detailed...

Soil pollution with heavy metals draws a serious concern because of their detrimental effects on the living biota. The persistent and non-biodegradable nature of heavy metals eases their accumulation in the environment. Agricultural soils are receiving tremendous amount of pollutants from the various sources. During the last few decades, rapid urbanization, industrialization, injudicious and fa...

Most studies on soil N2O emissions have focused either on the quantifying of agricultural N2O fluxes or on the effect of environmental factors on N2O emissions. However, very limited information is available on how land-use will affect N2O production, and nitrifiers involved in N2O emissions in agricultural soil ecosystems. Therefore, this study aimed at evaluating the relative importance of ni...

An intensive investigation was conducted to study the distribution of trace metals in surface soils of Hong Kong and to assess the soil environmental quality. From results of cluster analysis, and comparisons among soil types and areas, it is clearly shown that increases in trace metal concentrations in the soils were generally extensive and obvious in urban and orchard soils, less so in vegeta...

The concentrations of cadmium in agricultural soils depend upon the amounts present in the parent rocks from which the soils form, the amounts added in the form of fertilizers and soil amendments, the amounts deposited onto soils from the atmosphere, and the amounts removed by harvested crops and by leaching. On average, sedimentary rocks contain greater concentrations of Cd than either igneous...

The rise in the world demand for food poses a challenge to our ability to sustain soil fertility and sustainability. The increasing use of no-till agriculture, adopted in many areas of the world as an alternative to conventional farming, may contribute to reduce the erosion of soils and the increase in the soil carbon pool. However, the advantages of no-till agriculture are jeopardized when its...