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  • From: Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Fwd: [SANET-MG] Fwd: [UKFG list] Organic farming can reverse the agriculture ecosystem from a carbon source to a carbon sink
  • Date: Tue, 12 May 2015 09:07:52 -0400

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jonathan Latham <jrlatham@bioscienceresource.org>
Date: Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 2:43 PM
Subject: Fwd: [UKFG list] Organic farming can reverse the agriculture
ecosystem from a carbon source to a carbon sink

Best wishes
Jonathan

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-04/scp-ofc042915.php
Organic farming can reverse the agriculture ecosystem from a carbon source
to a carbon sink

> SCIENCE CHINA PRESS

> IMAGE: THIS IMAGE SHOWS PROCESSES OF GREENHOUSE GASES EMISSION AND
SEQUESTRATION IN THE STUDIED AGRO-ECOSYSTEM. view more
>
> CREDIT: ©SCIENCE CHINA PRESS
>
> Approximately 35% of global greenhouse gases (GHGs) come from
agriculture. Some argues that human can reverse global worming by
sequestering several hundred billion tons of excess CO2 through
regenerative, organic farming, ranching and land use. Increasing the soil's
organic content will not only fix carbon and reduce emissions, it will also
improve the soil's ability to retain water and nutrients and resist pests
and droughts.
>
> To mitigate GHG emissions and retain soil fertility, organic agriculture
might be a wise choice for decreasing the intensive use of synthetic
fertilizers, protecting environments, and further improving crop yields.
Recent research showed that replacing chemical fertilizer with organic
manure significantly decreased the emission of GHGs. Organic farming can
reverse the agriculture ecosystem from a carbon source to a carbon sink.
>
> To explore the potential of farmlands acting as a carbon sink without
yield losses, Jiang Gaoming, a professor at the Chinese Academy of
Sciences' Institute of Botany, conducted an experiment on a temperate
eco-farm in eastern rural China. Crop residues were applied to cattle feed
and the composted cattle manure was returned to cropland with a winter
wheat and maize rotation. Crop yield and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
were carefully calculated according to the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
2006.
>
> This study showed that replacing chemical fertilizer with organic manure
significantly decreased the emission of GHGs. Yields of wheat and corn also
increased as the soil fertility was improved by the application of cattle
manure. Totally replacing chemical fertilizer with organic manure decreased
GHG emissions, which reversed the agriculture ecosystem from a carbon
source (+ 2.7 t CO2-eq. hm-2 yr-1) to a carbon sink (- 8.8 t CO2-eq. hm-2
yr-1).
>
> Making full use of crop residues as forage for cattle, collecting and
composting cattle manure, and replacing part of the chemical fertilizer
input with organic manure have been successfully shown to be ideal choices
to reduce energy waste and cut GHG emissions without crop yield losses. A
combination of organic manure and chemical fertilizer demonstrated the best
result in improving soil quality and crop yields, while decreasing GHG
emissions. Solely utilizing chemical fertilizer on the farmland not only
led to increased GHG emissions, but also deteriorated the quality of the
soil.

> This research was jointly funded by the Key Strategic Project of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences (KSZD-EW-Z-012-2) and the National Science and
Technology Support Program, China (No.2012BAD14B00).
>
> See the article:
>
> Haitao Liu, J.L., Xiao Li, Yanhai Zheng, Sufei Feng, Gaoming Jiang. 2015.
Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions through replacement of chemical
fertilizer with organic manure in a temperate farmland. Science Bulletin,
60(6), 598-606.
>
> Science China Press
>
> http://www.scichina.com/

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Jonathan Latham, PhD
Executive Director
The Bioscience Resource Project
Ithaca, NY 14850 USA

www.independentsciencenews.org
and
www.bioscienceresource.org

jrlatham@bioscienceresource.org
Skype: jonathanlatham2
Tel: 1-607-319-0279

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and
opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those
who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible
government which is the true ruling power of our country.”—Edward Bernays,
Propaganda




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