Field-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Significance of Cover Cropping and Soil Methane Sequestration

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural fields continue to contribute substantially to climate warming. Globally, agriculture is the main contributor of methane and nitrous oxide emissions. However, agricultural soils can also act as a sink for GHGs especially methane. The majority of the current estimations of emissions from agricultural soils do not account for sink activities due to lack of measurements and understanding of underlying mechanisms. It is also important to consider off-season carbon fluxes from agricultural fields in overall GHG budget. Off season carbon uptake by cover crops will have a significant impact on the annual carbon budget and carbon sink activities. In this presentation, we will present methane sink activities and benefits of cover cropping on overall carbon budget.