INTENSIFIED MANAGEMENT IN REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE: IMPACTS ON INTRAGREGATE ORGANIC MATTER

• Grant number: 24/05184-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: May 01, 2024
• End date: April 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Soil Science
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Eduardo Pellegrino Cerri
• Grantee: Marcelo Trybek
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/10573-4 - Center for Carbon Research in Tropical Agriculture (CCARBON), AP.CEPID
• Associated scholarship(s): 25/04744-1 - INTERACTION BETWEEN SOIL CARBON ACCUMULATION AND COMPOSITION WITH GLOMALIN AND SOIL AGGREGATION IN DIVERSIFIED CROPPING SYSTEMS, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

Inadequate management can lead to degradation, reducing the soil's ability to act as a carbon dioxide (CO2) sink and, therefore, mitigate climate change. Alternatively, regenerative agriculture has been identified as a practice that promotes carbon sequestration in the soil and sustainable food production. The central objective of this project is to quantitatively and qualitatively investigate the aggregation and sequestration of carbon in intra-aggregated soil organic matter (MOS) fractions, induced by intensification in regenerative agriculture (AR) areas, under contrasting edaphoclimatic conditions. A chronosequence approach will be carried out in three host locations, in different Brazilian edaphoclimatic conditions: South Region (headquarters 1) and Cerrado Region (headquarters 2 and 3). At each site, soil from three use systems (Standard Management - MP, Improved Management - MM and AR) will be sampled up to 30 cm deep (0-5, 5-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm) in nine sampling points per treatment. Qualitative assessments (FT-IR spectroscopy and LIFS) will be combined with the determination of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) contents, aggregate stability (by wet screening and via the SLAKES® application), physical fractionation of intra-aggregated SOM, degree of humification and C management index in response to the conversion of PD to AR. The data will be subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the means obtained will be compared using the Tukey test (p<0.05), regression and correlation tests, as well as multivariate techniques such as canonical discriminant analysis and principal component analysis. . It is expected that the results obtained will guide national public policies that work to reduce the carbon footprint of agriculture, as well as being able to identify the potential for GHG mitigation through intensified systems of a regenerative nature, in different Brazilian edaphoclimatic conditions. The project adheres to the investigative theme of land use change and diversified systems on the C balance in the Brazilian Cerrado, within the scope of the Center for Carbon Studies in Tropical Agriculture (CCarbon) at USP.