Climate change mitigation through cropping sequences by prediction of global warming gases

Abstract

A research work has been initiated with ten different cropping sequences during 2017-18 in kharif, rabi and summer seasons. In this experiment, prediction was carried out to assess the green house gas emission by adopting cultivation practices for crops including fertilizer usage, energy used for machineries, irrigation and during chemical transport. According to IPCC (2014) prediction based emission factor, in the kharif season crops, maize crop consumes more fertilizer, so releases more N2O (932.52 kg CO2 equivalent) and least was registered with gingelly (130.55 kg CO2 equivalent) and field operation (43.06 kg CO2 equivalent), chemical transport (50.60 kg CO2 equivalent). During rabi season, The pulse crops such as bengal gram, cowpea, fodder cowpea registered less (93 kg CO2 equivalent) GHG emission through fertilizer usage and farm operation (11 kg CO2 equivalent) and sorghum crop releases more energy for farm operation. In summer also the crops which required high fertilizer dose and farm operation emitted more GHG. The cowpea and ground nut observed with less GHG emission of 93kg CO2 equivalent through fertilizer usage and by farm operation and chemical transport also less GHG registered. Cropping sequence as a whole, lower N2O emission registered with sorghum-horse gram-ground nut sequence for fertilizer usage, energy emission by farm operation and chemical transport. Bajra Napier (BN) hybrid + desmanthus showed higher feriliser usage as well as higher N2O emission of 1958 kg CO2 equivalent. In the energy used for chemical transport, maize-chilli-radish cropping sequence registered higher GHG of 699 kg CO2 equivalent. For mitigation of climate change carbon sequestration is the process by which, carbon is stored in biomass. Among the different cropping sequences, T8 BN hybrid + desmanthus registered higher CO2 capture of 84382 kg CO2 equivalent. In the soil fertility point of view, fodder crops grown soil enrich the soil fertility by improving soil organic carbon, microbial biomass carbon and dehydrogenase activity. High available N was observed in the pulse included cropping sequence.