Switch to no-till
Change to a crop production system in which the soil is left undisturbed from harvest to planting. Minimal soil disturbance occurs for seed placement only.
Switch to conservation till
Conservation tillage includes any tillage reduction practice that leaves at least 30% of the soil surface covered by residue.
Eliminate summer fallow
Do not allow land to be fallow during summer months, growing crops during otherwise typical fallow periods.
Use winter cover crops
Winter cover crops add biomass to a field during the normally fallow winter season, increasing total primary productivity.
Diversify annual crop rotations
Incorporate plants with greater sequestration potential (through increased root or above-ground biomass production, increased root exudates, or slower decomposition rate).
Incorporate perennials into crop rotations
Compared with annual crops, perennial crops (especially grasses) tend to allocate a relatively higher proportion of C underground and have a greater number of days per year of active plant primary productivity.
Short rotation woody crops
Incorporate short rotation woody crops (tree or shrub crops with rotation lengths of fewer than 30 years) into cropland management.
Convert cropland to pasture
Conversion of cropland to pasture often involves replacing annual with perennial plants, with enhanced soil C sequestration due to grazing activity.
Set aside cropland
Conversion of cropland to alternate non-tree uses (set-aside land), without harvest.
Reduce N application by 15%
Reducing N use in order to reduce direct and indirect nitrous oxideemissions. Indirect emissions generally originate from nitrogen in fields within leaching or runoff water
Adjust rice water management to reduce methane
Single or multiple midseason drainages could significantly reduce methane emissions. Attention to crop varieties and timing of flooding may be necessary in order to avoid associated yield losses.
Replace annual with perennial crops
Compared with annual crops, perennial crops (especially grasses) tend to allocate a relatively higher proportion of C underground and have a greater number of days per year of active plant primary productivity.
Restore wetlands
Many wetland soils store significant amounts of carbon, which is emitted during cultivation. Restoration can halt or reverse the decomposition process.
Manage species composition on grazing land
Establishing seeded pasture or interseeding the land with alfalfa, other legumes, or improved grasses can increase primary productivity or store more carbon in plant roots.
Switch fertilizer N source from ammonium-based to urea
Urea fertilizer tends to generate lower nitrous oxide losses than anhydrous ammonia and other ammonium-based fertilizer sources.
Switch to slow-release fertilizer N source
Includes controlled-release and stabilized N fertilizer. This switch can reduce nitrous oxide emissions by improving the synchronization of fertilizer N with plant N uptake needs.
Change fertilizer N placement
By placing fertilizer N in bands on or under the soil surface, farmers can deploy it close to the zone of active root uptake and reduce nitrous oxide emissions.
Change fertilizer N application timing
By improving the synchronization of fertilizer N with plant N uptake needs, timing changes improve N use efficiency and generate lower total N losses – including lower nitrous oxide emissions.
Use nitrification inhibitors
This improves N use efficiency and reduces nitrous oxide emissions and leaching losses. Nitrification inhibitors can also permit lower fertilizer N rates with no yield penalty.
Plant rice cultivars that produce less methane
Choosing cultivars with lower methane output will reduce total greenhouse gas emissions.