Societal value of soil carbon

Abstract

Agriculture is an engine of economic development and is integral to any agenda for addressing global issues of the twenty-first century (e.g., food and nutritional security, climate change, growing energy and water demands, and biodiversity). By 2050, there will be an additional global food demand for cereal production by 1 billion t y−1 (1.1 billion tn yr−1) from 2.1 to 3.0 billion t (2.3 to 3.3 billion tn), and 200 million t y−1 (220 million tn yr−1) of meat up to 470 million t y−1 (518 million tn yr−1) (FAO 2009; Alexandros and Bruinsma 2012). In addition, President Obama announced on June 2, 2014, that the US Environmental Protection Agency would cut carbon (C) emissions from the US power sector by up to 30% and soot and smog pollution by 25% by 2030 relative to 2005 levels (Kintisch 2014). There will also be an additional water demand of 40% by 2030, in which soil-water storage (e.g., green water) will play a crucial role (Rosegrant et al. 2002). Indeed, major concerns of the modern civilization, especially peace and tranquility (Lal 2014), are intricately connected with soil and its quality, sustainable intensification of agriculture, and climate-resilient farming through recarbonization of soil and…