Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Recovery of degraded land
N
2
O emissions caused by excessive fertil-
ization (Huang, 2006).
Vegetation recovery is still the most effect-
ive and feasible method for enhancing the
carbon sequestration potential of degraded
land in China (Peng
et al
., 2005). Prelimin-
ary estimates by Lin
et al
. (2005) showed
that the annual sequestration rate of soil car-
bon through erosion control could achieve
313
Tg C year
-
1
in China, and the restoration
of degraded land and the control of desertifi-
cation could reach 1.8 Tg C year
-
1
.
Moreover,
with the expectation of agricultural carbon
trading and compensation mechanisms, the
application of carbon capture and biochar
techniques in agriculture also seems eco-
nomical and feasible.
The fertile soil (FS) project
Until the 1950s, agriculture in China de-
pended mainly on organic fertilizer to pro-
vide nutrients. The FS project (2003-2007)
proposed by the MOA is a soil fertility pro-
ject that aims at ensuring the security of
national food supply through the increase
of organic fertilizer application, improve-
ment of fertilizer use efficiency, soil amelior-
ation and the prevention of soil degradation
in basic farmland protection and demon-
stration areas of China. Balanced fertiliza-
tion, comprehensive utilization of organic
fertilizer and soil fertility improvement are
the main agricultural extension technolo-
gies that are used in the project (Lin
et al
.,
2005). The SOM content was increased
largely through the implementation of the
FS project, because of the increase in or-
ganic fertilizer input (annual increasing rate
for organic fertilizer input is 5% and for
areas with crop residue returning it is 10%),
the improvement of organic fertilizer qual-
ity and the extension of the above-mentioned
soil fertility improvement technology (Lin
et al
., 2005).
Current National Action and Policy
for Soil Carbon Governance
Soil testing and fertilizer recommendation
(STFR) project
The STFR project initiated by the Ministry
of Agriculture of China (MOA) aims at im-
proving the soil organic matter (SOM) con-
tent in China's croplands through a rational
formula of fertilizer, deep fertilization in-
stead of surface fertilization and the joint
use of organic fertilizer and chemical fertil-
izer. The STFR project was started in 2005,
and the 'Technical specification of balanced
fertilization by soil testing' (NY/T 1118-
2006) was distributed in 2006 (MOA, 2006)
for guiding and normalizing the STFR pro-
ject that was implemented in each county.
A total of 2498 counties (all agricultural
counties in China) were covered by the STFR
project until the end of 2009, and over 90%
of grain crops in the counties were grown
using the STFR technology. Unsuitable
levels of fertilization have been decreased
by
3,000,000
t and the efficiency of fertilizer
use has increased by 3% due to the imple-
mentation of the STFR project over the past
5
years (MOA, 2009). The STFR project also
largely benefited the sequestration of carbon
in agricultural soils through the improve-
ment of SOM content and the reduction of
Conservation tillage (ConsT) and crop
residue returning (CR)
The long-term use of ConsT practices
would be beneficial to improve SOC con-
tent and soil fertility. Experimental re-
search and extension of ConsT in China
was started in 1960s (Wang
et al
., 2006).
The promotion of ConsT in dry farmland
demonstration areas has been extended by
the MOA since 2002. A total of
167
ConsT
demonstration counties in
15
provinces of
northern China had been set up by the
central government and
262
demonstra-
tion counties had been set up by the pro-
vincial government by the end of 2006
(MOA, 2007). The total area of ConsT dem-
onstration and extension is as large as
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