Management of pasture and integrated production systems and their effects on soil organic carbon stock and stability

Abstract

Anthropogenic warming of the planet is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. Food production, especially livestock, has contributed to the emission of greenhouse gases, which potentiate this warming. Thus, there is a strong need to reduce the environmental impact of livestock by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from this sector. One of the alternatives would be to increase soil carbon sequestration, especially in pasture soils, preferably those that are degraded. In the case of Brazil, this measure has been facilitated through the Low Carbon Agriculture Plan (Plano ABC) and is also included in the voluntary commitments of Nationally Determined Contributions, as a strategy for climate change mitigation. Therefore, our objective is to evaluate the effect of these more intensified and diversified grazing systems on the quantity and quality of soil organic matter. For this, soil samples will be collected up to 1 m deep, in six sites, all within the Cerrado biome. Less intensified and diversified pasture systems will be compared with integrated production systems. Total soil carbon and nitrogen stocks and fractions of dissolved, particulate, and mineral-associated organic matter will be measured. With these results, we intend to demonstrate that integrated agricultural production systems contribute to soil carbon sequestration and thus increase the adoption of these systems as an option for climate-smart agriculture.(AU)