Greenhouse gas emission in intensive agriculture systems with biodiversification - sustainable management alternatives

• Grant number: 23/04329-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2023
• End date: September 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Soil Science
• Principal Investigator: Maurício Roberto Cherubin
• Grantee: Laura Coltro Estella
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Company: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Politécnica (EP)
• Associated research grant: 20/15230-5 - Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Innovation - RCG2I, AP.PCPE
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/13755-1 - Study of Uncertainty Algorithms and Quality Analysis Criteria in Calculating Greenhouse Gas Flow - Alternative Methods, BE.EP.IC

Abstract

The increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions induced by intensified anthropogenic activities, and the consequent global warming, has caused climate changes in all regions of the world. In Brazil, deforestation for land use change and the agriculture sector are the main sources of GHG emissions. Mitigating climate change involves reducing GHG emissions and removing atmospheric carbon (CO2). In this context, biodiversity, the introduction of cover crops in the production system, has been identified as an important strategy that can act both in reducing GHG emissions and increasing carbon sequestration in the soil. In this scenario, the present work aims to monitor and analyze GHG emissions in an intensified system with biodiversity, in order to determine the final carbon balance of the system in the future. For this project, the proposal is to evaluate GHG emissions from agricultural systems with three levels of biodiversity (monoculture, crop rotation, and biodiversity with cover crops). Cultural treatments are recorded to allow overlapping of information in the plotting of GHG emission data. Gas sampling began in January 2022 and is expected to end between February and March 2023 (after the second crop), and GHG fluxes are measured in static and manual cylindrical chambers. The gas concentration in ppm is being obtained through a gas chromatograph. The results of cumulative emissions will be initially subjected to the Shapiro-Wilk test for normality analysis and then to the Levene test for variance homogeneity analysis. If the prerequisites are met, the means comparison will be made by ANOVA. Thus, it is hoped to discover whether the addition of cover crops in the agricultural production system will increase or decrease GHG emissions with emphasis on nitrous oxide.