Soil carbon "debts" versus "deficits" ?
Soil carbon debt? Soil carbon deficit? Carbon DEBTs as defined by Wuepper et al. 2021 (https://lnkd.in/e_YQN2VF ; https://lnkd.in/ezSqnzt2) compare present day soil carbon levels to those of pristine soils that may have existed in the past (https://lnkd.in/eZRs8Esm).
Polyor SAS's AgroNum approach to sustainable agriculture & soil organic matter conservation (https://lnkd.in/eBmfT3NM) defines soil carbon DEFICITs as the difference between soil carbon levels over time when crop residues returned to the soil are nitrogen sufficient to those when crop residues are deemed deficient in nitrogen. Nb. Unsurprisingly, both carbon debts & deficits increase with soil organic carbon stocks as derived & repertoired by WoSIS (https://soilgrids.org/).
Despite some discrepancy in calibration, soil-carbon "debts" & "deficits" are seemingly well correlated (figure). This corroborates AgroNum as an ergonomic alternative to carbon-credit accounting & brokerage proposed by carbon-farming advocates. AgroNum's AI algorithms do not require error-prone soil-carbon sampling & monitoring, but rather use sustainable nitrogen-fertilizer response curves (https://lnkd.in/eBmfT3NM) as a means of ensuring that crop residues returned to the soil are not nitrogen-deprived (alias "deficient) so as to not hinder their humification into stable soil organic matter.
Polyor SAS's AgroNum concept is now being proposed for the recommendation of sustainable target grain yields & their corresponding sustainable N-fertilizer application rates. AgroNum can also be used to calculate "refundable nitrogen-credits" as an alternative to conventional carbon-credits. Hopefully, such sustainability metrics will be standardized soon, via the #issb & #ifrs for instance.
Yours to see since time will tell.
#carbonfarming #eucarbonremoval #sustainableagriculture #fertilizers #AI #soilconservation #soilhealth #climateaction #durabilité #conservationdessols #agriculturedurable #fertilisationraisonnée #issb #ifrs
