Integrating Short Rotation Woody Crops into Conventional Agricultural Practices in the Southeastern United States: A Review

Omoyemeh J. Ile (), Hanna McCormick, Sheila Skrabacz, Shamik Bhattacharya, Maricar Aguilos, Henrique D. R. Carvalho, Joshua Idassi, Justin Baker, Joshua L. Heitman and John S. King
Additional contact information
Omoyemeh J. Ile: Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Hanna McCormick: College of Natural Resources, Environmental Science Program, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Sheila Skrabacz: College of Natural Resources, Environmental Science Program, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Shamik Bhattacharya: College of Natural Resources, Environmental Science Program, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Maricar Aguilos: Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Henrique D. R. Carvalho: Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Joshua Idassi: SC State 1890 Research & Extension, South Carolina State University, Orangeburg, SC 29117, USA
Justin Baker: Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Joshua L. Heitman: Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
John S. King: Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA

Land, 2022, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-26

Abstract: One of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal’s (SDGs) aims is to enhance access to clean energy. In addition, other SDGs are directly related to the restoration of degraded soils to improve on-farm productivity and land management. Integrating Short Rotation Woody Crops (SRWC) for bioenergy into conventional agriculture provides opportunities for sustainable domestic energy production, rural economic development/diversification, and restoration of soil health and biodiversity. Extensive research efforts have been carried out on the development of SRWC for bioenergy, biofuels, and bioproducts. Recently, broader objectives that include multiple ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, and land mine reclamation are being explored. Yet, limited research is available on the benefits of establishing SRWC on degraded agricultural lands in the southeastern U.S. thereby contributing to environmental goals. This paper presents a literature review to (1) synthesize the patterns and trends in SWRC bioenergy production; (2) highlight the benefits of integrating short rotation woody crops into row crop agriculture; and (3) identify emerging technologies for efficiently managing the integrated system, while identifying research gaps. Our findings show that integrating SRWC into agricultural systems can potentially improve the climate of agricultural landscapes and enhance regional and national carbon stocks in terrestrial systems.

Keywords: land degradation; new farming systems; bioenergy; agroforestry; sustainable development goals; landscape restoration; ecosystem services (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/1/10/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/1/10/ (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:jlands:v:12:y:2022:i:1:p:10-:d:1009479

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

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