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Microbial inoculant has little effect on greenhouse gas emissions following cover crop incorporation

Rieder, Sebastian; Conen, Franz and Krauss, Maike (2024) Microbial inoculant has little effect on greenhouse gas emissions following cover crop incorporation. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, online, x-xx.

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Document available online at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016788092400450X


Summary in the original language of the document

A net negative emissions technology is the transformation of CO2 and its storage in agricultural soils in form of soil organic carbon (SOC). One possibility to increase SOC stocks in agriculture is to grow and incorporate cover crops in the upper soil layer. However, incorporation of fresh plant material can also increase N2O emissions and thereby reduce the overall greenhouse gas mitigation effect. While the effect of removing plant material is relatively well understood, the effect of different incorporation methods and the inoculation of cover crops with microbial inoculant (MI) is still poorly known. To investigate these effects, we conducted an incubation study and a field trial where a grass-clover cover crop was followed by maize. We measured greenhouse gas emissions (N2O, CO2), soil parameters (Nmin, DOC, soil moisture and temperature), soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and maize yield. In the four weeks following cover crop incorporation, shallow rotary tillage induced 30 % higher CO2 emissions than ploughing and removal of cover crop biomass resulted in significantly lower N2O and CO2 emissions as if it was mulched and inoculated with MI. Regarding the whole season, removal of aboveground cover crop biomass reduced N2O field emissions in tendency by 21 %, whereby the trend in N2O reduction by adding MI in the field was less pronounced. Total N2O emissions did not differ between tillage implements used for incorporation. SOC stocks did not change within 0–20 cm within a year. Maize yield was 23 % higher with ploughing than rotary tillage. Overall, the addition of MI during cover crop incorporation might improve the greenhouse gas balance, but potential effects are superimposed too strongly by other management and meteorological factors. Therefore, claims that MI are an option to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture remain weakly substantiated.


EPrint Type:Journal paper
Keywords:nitrous oxide, tillage, cover plants, Abacus, FiBL10192, ClimaCrops
Agrovoc keywords:
Language
Value
URI
English
nitrous oxide
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_12838
English
tillage
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_7771
English
cover crops -> cover plants
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_1936
Subjects: Soil > Soil quality
Crop husbandry > Crop combinations and interactions
Environmental aspects > Air and water emissions
Research affiliation: Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Crops > Anbautechnik > Mixed cropping
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Soil > Tillage > Reduced Tillage
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Sustainability > Climate
DOI:10.1016/j.agee.2024.109332
Related Links:https://www.fibl.org/en/themes/projectdatabase/projectitem/project/2343
Deposited By: Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau, FiBL
ID Code:55227
Deposited On:21 Mar 2025 09:16
Last Modified:21 Mar 2025 09:17
Document Language:English
Status:Published
Refereed:Peer-reviewed and accepted

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