TY - JOUR
T1 - Greenhouse gas emissions under conservation agriculture compared to traditional cultivation of maize in the central highlands of Mexico
AU - Dendooven, Luc
AU - Gutiérrez-Oliva, Vicente F.
AU - Patiño-Zúñiga, Leonardo
AU - Ramírez-Villanueva, Daniel A.
AU - Verhulst, Nele
AU - Luna-Guido, Marco
AU - Marsch, Rodolfo
AU - Montes-Molina, Joaquín
AU - Gutiérrez-Miceli, Federico A.
AU - Vásquez-Murrieta, Soledad
AU - Govaerts, Bram
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Humberto González, Gerardo Morales, Maricela Rugerio and Daniel Terrazas for technical assistance and Francesca Vaghi for editing and correction of the manuscript. The research was funded by Cinvestav (México) and ‘Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo’ (CIMMYT) and received scientific backstopping through the USAID-Linkage funds. The research forms part of the strategic research for ‘Desarrollo sustentable con el productor’, part of ‘Modernización Sustentable de la Agricultura Tradicional’, supported by SAGARPA . L.P.-Z., V.F. G.-O. and D.A. R.-V. received grant-aided support from the ‘ Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología’ (CONACyT) and N.V. received a PhD fellowship of the Research Foundation — Flanders.
PY - 2012/8/1
Y1 - 2012/8/1
N2 - In 1991, the 'International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center' (CIMMYT) started a field experiment in the rain fed Mexican highlands to investigate conservation agriculture (CA) as a sustainable alternative for conventional maize production practices (CT). CT techniques, characterized by deep tillage, monoculture and crop residue removal, have deteriorated soil fertility and reduced yields. CA, which combines minimum tillage, crop rotations and residue retention, restores soil fertility and increases yields. Soil organic matter increases in CA compared to CT, but increases in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in CA might offset the gains obtained to mitigate global warming. Therefore, CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions, soil temperature, C and water content were monitored in CA and CT treatments in 2010-2011. The cumulative GHG emitted were similar for CA and CT in both years, but the C content in the 0-60cm layer was higher in CA (117.7MgCha-1) than in CT (69.7MgCha-1). The net global warming potential (GWP) of CA (considering soil C sequestration, GHG emissions, fuel use, and fertilizer and seeds production) was -7729kgCO2ha-1y-1 in 2008-2009 and -7892kgCO2ha-1y-1 in 2010-2011, whereas that of CT was 1327 and 1156kgCO2ha-1y-1. It was found that the contribution of CA to GWP was small compared to that of CT.
AB - In 1991, the 'International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center' (CIMMYT) started a field experiment in the rain fed Mexican highlands to investigate conservation agriculture (CA) as a sustainable alternative for conventional maize production practices (CT). CT techniques, characterized by deep tillage, monoculture and crop residue removal, have deteriorated soil fertility and reduced yields. CA, which combines minimum tillage, crop rotations and residue retention, restores soil fertility and increases yields. Soil organic matter increases in CA compared to CT, but increases in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in CA might offset the gains obtained to mitigate global warming. Therefore, CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions, soil temperature, C and water content were monitored in CA and CT treatments in 2010-2011. The cumulative GHG emitted were similar for CA and CT in both years, but the C content in the 0-60cm layer was higher in CA (117.7MgCha-1) than in CT (69.7MgCha-1). The net global warming potential (GWP) of CA (considering soil C sequestration, GHG emissions, fuel use, and fertilizer and seeds production) was -7729kgCO2ha-1y-1 in 2008-2009 and -7892kgCO2ha-1y-1 in 2010-2011, whereas that of CT was 1327 and 1156kgCO2ha-1y-1. It was found that the contribution of CA to GWP was small compared to that of CT.
KW - Greenhouse gas emissions
KW - Net global warming potential
KW - Soil carbon content
KW - Soil mineral N and water content
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84861953475&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.05.029
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.05.029
M3 - Artículo
SN - 0048-9697
VL - 431
SP - 237
EP - 244
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
ER -