Chinese scientists propose way to achieve carbon-neutral crop production

Aerial photo taken on July 20, 2022 shows an unmanned harvester working in Jiangxiang Township, Nanchang County of east China's Jiangxi Province. (Xinhua/Wan Xiang)

NANJING, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists, in collaboration with researchers from the United States and Germany, have proposed an agricultural carbon reduction solution that could help China achieve carbon neutrality in its food production, according to the Institute of Soil Science under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

According to the research model evaluation, the total carbon emissions from the production of China's staple crops, including rice, wheat and corn, could have neared 670 teragrams of CO2-equivalent in 2018.

Completing a comprehensive life-cycle assessment using data from China, the research team showed that an integrated biomass pyrolysis and electricity generation system coupled with commonly applied methane and nitrogen mitigation measures can help reduce staple crops' annual life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions from 666.5 now to minus 37.9 teragrams of CO2-equivalent.

"This new path can help achieve carbon neutrality in grain production without sacrificing grain output. It can also reduce atmospheric pollution emissions, increase the utilization rate of fertilizer resources, and increase both environmental and economic benefits by more than 30 percent," said Yan Xiaoyuan, the lead scientist from the CAS Institute of Soil Science.

The study was led by the CAS Institute of Soil Science in partnership with several other research institutes, including the China Agricultural University, Tsinghua University, and Cornell University. The research findings were published online in Nature Food on Feb. 9.