Add us as your preferred source on Google to see more of our content in Search.
Add to Preferred SourcesFarmers are increasingly using sustainable agricultural methods to boost productivity while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In a series of research projects, coordinated by the IAEA in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the effectiveness of environment-friendly farming methods is verified by stable isotope techniques.
Agriculture, particularly large-scale commercial operations, typically involve monoculture in conjunction with the use of large amounts of chemical fertilizers – often to the detriment of ecosystems. Monoculture is a practice in which the same crop is grown on the same plot of land year after year, leading to lower soil fertility. Farmers compensate for this reduced soil fertility by applying excessive quantities of chemical fertilizers, which contribute to climate change through their release globally of 1.2 million tons per year of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 260 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
The sustainable agricultural practices at the centre of the research projects offer cost-effective solutions to boost productivity while fighting climate change.
Brazil: organic fertilizers reduce costs and minimize environmental impact
Chemical fertilizers provide the soil with additional nitrogen to grow crops. Their use is often considered necessary in order for agriculture to be economically viable. But repeated use or overuse of these fertilizers is both expensive and bad for the ecosystem. In Brazil, farmers are turning to a technique known as green manuring, which involves the natural phenomenon of biological nitrogen fixation.
They plant various types of legume crops, such as jack beans and velvet beans, that have bacteria in their roots converting nitrogen captured from the air into an organic form suitable for consumption by other plants, hence fertilizing the soil. After the legumes are harvested and the crop residues left behind, primary crops such as grain and cereals are planted on the same field and benefit from the nitrogen now available in the soil, with only minimal amounts of chemical fertilizer added.
By embracing green manuring, Brazil is getting closer to achieving its greenhouse gas emissions target – a reduction of 43% by 2030 compared with 2005 levels. As agriculture is responsible for around 24% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the growing implementation of this practice will help Brazil meet this goal.
Integrated farming systems fight climate change and boost crop yields
Integrated cropping-livestock systems are another sustainable agricultural practice supported by nuclear techniques in the framework of a coordinated research project involving Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Uganda and Uruguay. These practices are based on a simple concept: that crop yields can be maximized by recycling nutrients present in both animal manure and crop residues. This reduces the need for chemical fertilizers that release large quantities of greenhouse gases and thereby contribute to climate change. In an integrated cropping-livestock system, livestock may either graze the field crops directly or may be fed the crop after harvesting. Farmers then collect the manure from the livestock and use it as fertilizer, thereby returning many of the nutrients to the soil.
Original source: IAEA
Published on 23 October 2018