Climate Change Mitigation - Climate Resilient Agriculture for Ensuring Food Security - page 271

13.1.3.3. Off-fi eld crop residue
management
13.1.4. Water management (expanding
the use of irrigation or using
more effective irrigation mea-
sures, cropland drainage in humid
regions)
13.1.4.1. Irrigation
1. Drip irrigation
2. Sprinkler irrigation
13.1.4.2. Fog harvesting
13.1.4.3. Rainwater harvesting
13.1.5. Rice management
13.1.5.1. Fertilizer, manure, and
straw management
13.1.5.2. Mid-season drainage
13.1.5.3. Alternate wetting and
drying
13.1.5.4. Potassium

promote soil carbon gains. However, the benefi ts
of increased soil carbon can be (partly) offset by
higher N 2 O emissions from the soil and higher
CO 2 emissions from the manufacturing of the
fertilizer.
Moreover, emissions from the land can also be
reduced through the adoption of systems that
have a reduced reliance on fertilizers, pesticides,
and other inputs. Not only does this prevent the
greenhouse gas emissions from the manufactur-
ing of these inputs, it also increases soil carbon.
An important example is the use of rotations with
legume crops. These crops reduce reliance on
external nitrogen inputs, which reduces the
demand for fertilizer.
Another group of agronomic practices are
those that provide temporary vegetative cover
between successive agricultural crops or between
rows of tree or vine crops. These “catch” or
“cover” crops add carbon to soils and may also
extract plant available N unused by the preceding
crop, thereby reducing N 2 O emissions.

fertilizer

application
13.1.5.5. Agricultural
biotechnology
13.1.5.6. Reduced tillage
13.1.5.7. Direct seeding
13.1.5.8. Chemical

13.1.1.1 Crop Varieties
with Enhanced Carbon
Sequestration
Agricultural biotechnology stands out as a prom-
ising tool for the development of traits and variet-
ies that help to mitigate and adapt to climate
change. GM crops with pest resistance (Bt) and
herbicide tolerance and conventionally bred vari-
eties using marker selection in tissue culture have
benefi ted agriculture by improving productivity
and disease resistance. Had productivity not been
maintained or increased by such GM crops, more
land would have to be cultivated, and it is likely
that such land would come from the forest or
other more natural ecosystems with sequestered
carbon that would be released when tilled for
growing crops. There are three ways that a GM
crop can reduce GHG emissions: (1) increasing
the productivity and the amount of residue carbon
that can be sequestered, (2) herbicide-resistant
crops enable greater use of no-till which helps
preserve carbon sequestration, and (3) because of
enabled no-till, the amount of fossil fuel used by

fertilizer

amendment
13.1.5.9. Electron acceptors
13.1.6. Manure management
13.1.6.1. Covering manure stor-
age facilities
13.1.7. Agro-forestry (mitigation)
13.1.8. Land-use change
13.1.9. Restoration of degraded lands
13.1.10. Organic agriculture

13.1.1 Agronomy

Increased soil carbon storage can be achieved
through improved agronomic practices. These
practices increase yields while also generating
higher inputs of carbon residue. Examples of
agronomic practices are using improved crop
varieties, extending crop rotations, and avoiding
or reducing the use of bare fallow. Adding
additional nutrients through fertilizers can also