Land-Use Change: Impacts on Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Use of Multi-Technology Strategies for Biological Nitrogen Fixation in Pasture Renovation

• Grant number: 25/16292-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: August 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Pastures and Forage Crops
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Guilherme Silveira Pedreira
• Grantee: Marcos Vinicius Pereira Souza
• 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

Abstract

Brazil has experienced an accelerated process of improvement and intensification of agricultural areas in recent decades, with particular emphasis on the need to increase pasture productivity for livestock production. However, despite the recognition of this need and the potential for intensification through conventional soil tillage and alternative nutrient replenishment strategies, the unique climatic and edaphic characteristics of each agroecosystem increase the risk of soil degradation. The disturbance of natural areas is known to directly impact the dynamics of soil organic carbon (C). Land-use conversion, followed by inadequate management and the absence of conservation practices, is among the main factors promoting soil carbon loss through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the atmosphere. Therefore, the objective of this study is to evaluate soil GHG emissions during land-use change associated with the renovation of multi-species grass pastures to Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandu, established under different nitrogen supply strategies, such as the exclusive use of synthetic fertilizer (urea), or in combination with plant growth-promoting microorganisms (PGPM, Azospirillum brasilense), or with legume intercropping (Macrotyloma axillare or Arachis pintoi BRS Mandobi), in addition to the integration of legume intercropping with both species and PGPM.