Evaluation of Long-Term SOC and Crop Productivity within Conservation Systems Using GFDL CM2.1 and EPIC

Kieu N. Le, Manoj K. Jha, Jaehak Jeong, Philip Gassman, Manuel R. Reyes, Luca Doro, Dat Tran and Lyda Hok
Additional contact information
Kieu N. Le: Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Design, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC 27411, USA
Manoj K. Jha: Civil, Architectural & Environmental Engineering, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC 27411, USA
Jaehak Jeong: Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Blackland Research and Extension Center, Temple, TX 76502, USA
Manuel R. Reyes: Sustainable Intensification Innovation Lab, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
Luca Doro: Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Blackland Research and Extension Center, Temple, TX 76502, USA
Lyda Hok: Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agronomy, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh 12401, Cambodia

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 8, 1-17

Abstract: Will soil organic carbon (SOC) and yields increase for conservation management systems in tropical zones in response to the next 100 years? To answer the question, the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model was used to study the effects of climate change, cropping systems, conservation agriculture (CA) and conservation tillage management practices on SOC and crop productivity in Kampong Cham, Cambodia. The EPIC model was successfully calibrated and validated for crop yields, biomass, SOC and nitrogen based on field data from a five-year field experiment. Historical weather (1994–2013) was used for baseline assessment versus mid-century (2046–2064) and late-century (2081–2100) climate projections generated by the Geophysical Fluids Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) CM2.1 global climate model. The simulated results showed that upland rice yield would increase the most under the B1 scenario in mid-century for all treatments, followed by soybean and maize. Cassava yield only increased under CA treatment when cultivated as a continuous primary crop. Carbon sequestration was more sensitive to cropping systems and crop rotation than climate change. The results indicated that the rotated CA primary crop (maize) systems should be prioritized for SOC sequestration as well as for increasing crop productivity. In addition, rice systems may increase SOC compared to soybean and cassava.

Keywords: upland rice; cassava; soybean; conservation agriculture; soil organic carbon (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/8/2665/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/8/2665/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:8:p:2665-:d:160652

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().