Influence of Camelina crops on soil CO2 emissions

Summary

The Green Deal poses different challenges for EU agriculture, and this production will cost more and will be reflected on the global market once agriculture is included in the emissions trading system. Sustainable land management will be crucial to achieving the EU's climate neutrality target by 2050, as it will increase the amount of carbon captured and stored in plants and soils. Agriculture’s role in carbon sequestration is most closely linked to soil as a carbon sink. Soils have the potential to act as significant carbon sinks, storing carbon that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere as CO2. Through practices such as cover crops, reduced tillage, and organic farming, farmers can improve soil carbon sequestration, contributing to climate mitigation efforts. The aim of the present study was to track the dynamics of soil CO2 emissions during the vegetation of Camelina in different intercropping systems and, on this basis, to evaluate the possibilities for sustainable management of carbon in the soil. After the three-year studies, we can recommend the use of Camelina as monocultures and especially in mixed crops with legumes as a step towards sustainable management of CO2 emissions and towards the so-called carbon agriculture. This approach has the additional advantage of biologically nourishing the soil with nitrogen, as well as creating more favorable conditions for the development of the soil microbiome.