SOIL AMENDMENTS AND

CARBON SEQUESTRATION

R. Lal
Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
The Ohio State University
Columbus, OH 43210 USA

C-MASC 06-09
 SOIL AMENDMENT
These are organic and inorganic materials,
which by application on soil surface as
mulch or through incorporation, improve soil
quality, increase NPP, and enhance the
environment.

C-MASC 06-09
 ORGANIC AMENDMENTS
Plant Based Animal Origin

A. Live Plants: A. Co-Products:

•Cover crops •Manure
•Live mulch •Compost
•Mixed cropping, Relay cropping B. Industrial Products:
B. Plant Residues: •Bone Meal (P fertilizer)
•Mulch
•Compost
•Biochar
C. Inoculants:
•Rhizobium
•Mycorrhizae

C-MASC 06-09
 INORGANIC AMENDMENTS

Materials
1. Chemical Fertilizers
2. Soil Conditioners
a. Organic : Bitumen, PVA
b. Inorganic : Lime
Impact
Enhance soil fertility
Improve soil structure

C-MASC 06-09
C-MASC 06-09 Newsweek 2009
 SOIL C AS AN INDICATOR OF
CLIMATE CHANGE
There are numerous advantages:

1. It is a familiar property,
2. It involves direct measurement,
3. It can be measured in 4 dimensions (length,
width, depth, time),
4. It lends itself to repeated measurements over
the same site,

C-MASC 6-09
SOIL C AS AN INDICATOR OF CLIMATE
CHANGE (Contd.)

5. It is linked to ecosystem performance and

services,
6. It is a key driver of soil formation,
7. It is important to soil fertility,
8. It has memory,
9. It has well defined properties,

C-MASC 06-09
 CAPACITY OF TERRESTRIAL
CARBON SINK
Historic Loss from Terrestrial Biosphere =
456 Gt with 4 Gt of C emission = 1 ppm of CO2

The Potential Sink of Terrestrial Biospheres = 114 ppm

Assuming that up to 50% can be resequestered = 45 – 55 ppm

Cropland Soils: 1 Gt/yr

Rangeland Soils: 1 Gt/yr
Restoration of Degraded/Desertified: 1 Gt/yr
Drawdown: 50 ppm of CO2 over 50 years

C-MASC 06-09
 Soil Carbon Sequestration

Avoiding Emissions Sequestering Carbon

Reducing Improving Creating Negative Creating Positive

Controlling
C-Based Energy C Emissions Nutrient Budget
Erosion
Input Efficiency
•Biofuels

Cover Soil
Mulching Bio- Chemical
cropping Amendments
fertilizers Fertilizers
•Biochar
•Manure
•Zeolites
STRATEGIES OF SOIL CARBON SEQUESTRATION
C-MASC 06-09
GLOBAL SOIL EROSION AND DYNAMICS
OF SOIL ORGANIC CARBON

1.4 x 1015 g/yr C

Decomposition
1500 x 1015 C and emission to 3.99 x 1015 g/yr
in world soil the atmosphere Stored within the
terrestrial ecosystem
5.7 x 1015 g/yr C
Displaced to to erosion

0.57 x 1015 g/yr

Transported to the ocean
C-MASC 06-09
Lal, 2003
CREATING POSITIVE C BUDGET

C-MASC 06-09
 700
BASELINE
Atmospheric concentration of CO2 (ppmv)
Carbon
sequestration
600

500

400

360
1990 2010 2030 2050 2070 2090 2100 2110

Year C-MASC 06-09

 INCREASING NPP AND CREATING
A POSITIVE ECOSYSTEM C BUDGET

• Using INM
• Conserving and recycling water
• Controlling stocking rate
• Converting NT with mulching and cover crops
• Using soil amendments (e.g., manure, biochar, zeolites)
• Establishing forests, woody shrubs and perennials

C-MASC 06-09
CREATING POSITIVE NUTRIENT BUDGET

C-MASC 5-09
STRATEGIES OF CARBONIZATION
OF THE TERRESTRIAL BIOSPHERE

1. Restore forest and savannahs

2. Control soil erosion
3. Reclaim degraded soils
4. Inundate/restore peat soils
5. Adopt RMPs on agricultural soils
6. Strengthen co cycles of water,
nitrogen and carbon
C-MASC 06-09
CARBON FOOT PRINT OF CONVENTIONAL
TILL AND NO-TILL CORN
Parameter Kg CE/ha
Conventional Till No Till
1. Input 803 786
2. Output 6431 6688
3. Soil erosion -60 0
4. C Sequestration -500 500
5. Net C output 5871 7188
6. C Output : Input 7·3 9·1

C-MASC 06-09
 ADOPTION OF NO-TILL FARMING
Country Area Country Area
(million hectares) (million hectares)

United States 25.3 South Africa 0.4

Brazil 23.6 Spain 0.3
Argentina 18.3 Venezuela 0.3
Canada 12.5 Uruguay 0.3
New Zealand 0.2
Australia 9.0
France 0.2
Paraguay 1.7
Chile 0.1
Indo-Gangetic Plains 1.9
Columbia 0.1
Bolivia 0.6 China 0.1
Others 1.0
(Derpsh, 2007)
Total 96

C-MASC 06-09
Workers in India’s fertile Punjab pull an overstuffed load of rice stalks to a
farm where they will be used as animal feed. High-yielding varieties, along
with subsidized fertilizer and irrigation, have helped India stave off famine
for decades. (National Geographic, June 2009)
C-MASC 06-09
 Asian brown cloud caused by traditional biofuels.

Source: NYT 4-16-09

 CARBON SEQUESTRATION
IN RELATION TO CLIMATE
Wet

High Medium

Moisture

Medium Low

Dry
Cool Hot
Temperature
C-MASC 06-09
SOIL GUIDE FOR C SEQUESTRATION
Clay Silt Sandy Loam
Technology
Poorly Well Drained Erodible Non-Erodible Erodible Droughty
Drained
No-Till

Cover
Cropping
Manuring

Biochar

Agroforestry

Irrigation

INM

Improved
Pasture

C-MASC 06-09
RATE OF SOC SEQUESTRATION
1. Depends on many factors:

2. Baseline or reference point.

3. Clay content and type.

4. Antecedent SOC pool.

5. Residue management.

6. Internal drainage.

7. Soil wetness.

C-MASC 06-09
PATHWAYS TO LOW CARBON ECONOMY
(MCKINSEY & CO., 2008)

Strategy GHG Abatement (Euro/t CO2 E)

Tillage and Residue Management - 50
Waste Recycling - 15
Degraded Land Restoration 10
Second Generation Biofuels 5
Pastureland Afforestation 10
Degraded Forest Restoration 12
Agriculture Conversion 25
Biomass Co-firing Power Plant 30
Coal C Capture & Sequestration 45
Gas Plant Capture & Sequestration 60

C-MASC 6-09
 LAW #1
CAUSES OF SOIL DEGRADATION

The biophysical process of soil

degradation is driven by economic,
social and political forces.

C-MASC 06-09
 LAW #2
SOIL STEWARDSHIP AND
HUMAN SUFFERING

When people are poverty stricken,

desperate and starving, they pass on their
sufferings to the land.

C-MASC 06-09
 Law #3
NUTRIENT, CARBON AND WATER
BANK

It is not possible to take more out of a soil

than what is put in it without degrading its
quality.

C-MASC 06-09
 LAW #4
MARGINALITY PRINCIPLE

Marginal soils cultivated with marginal

inputs produce marginal yields and
support marginal living.

C-MASC 06-09
 THE ULTIMATE RECYCLING

AN IMPOSSIBLE ECOSYSTEM
 LAW #5
ORGANIC VERSUS INORGANIC
SOURCE OF NUTRIENTS

Plants cannot differentiate the nutrients

supplied through inorganic fertilizers or
organic amendments.

C-MASC 06-09
 LAW #6
SOIL CARBON AND GREENHOUSE
EFFECT
Mining C has the same effect on global
warming whether it is through
mineralization of soil organic matter and
extractive farming or burning fossil fuels
or draining peat soils.

C-MASC 06-09
 LAW #7
SOIL VERSUS GERMPLASM

Even the elite varieties cannot extract

water and nutrients from any soil
where they do not exist.

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 Law #8
Soil As Sink For Atmospheric CO2

Soil are integral to any strategy of

mitigating global warming and
improving the environment

C-MASC 06-09
 LAW #9
ENGINE OF ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT

Sustainable management of soils is the

engine of economic development, political
stability and transformation of rural
communities in developing countries.

C-MASC 06-09
 Law #10
TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND
MODERN INNOVATIONS

• Sustainable management of soil implies

the use of modern innovations built
upon the traditional knowledge.
• Those who refuse to use modern
science to address urgent global issues
must be prepared to endure more
suffering.
C-MASC 06-09
PRODUCTIVITY INCREASE BETWEEN
1900 AND 2000 (PONTING, 2007)

Increase Factor Between

Parameter 1900-2000
Population 3.8
Urban Population 12.8
Industrial output 35
Energy Use 12.5
Oil Production 300
Water Use 9
Irrigated Area 6.8
Fertilizer Use 342
Fish Catch 65
Organic Chemicals 1000
Car Ownership 7750