Up-to-date and informative web pages could boost the potential for carbon sequestration in Australian soils.
NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) has launched two web pages which highlight work being done to assess and explore the potential for holding carbon in the soil long term, and the benefit this would have in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
One of the pages provides a comprehensive background to biochar, a carbon-rich material produced from the slow pyrolysis of biomass, which has great capacity to sequester carbon in the soil. This page also outlines the research being conducted by NSW DPI into the potential for this material.
It says the highest SOC sequestration potential in NSW exists in pasture land in the higher rainfall regions (>450 mm), both as permanent pastures or as ley pasture in the cropping zone.
"Considerable increases can be achieved by pasture improvement and improved management practices," the paper states.
"Significant SOC potential also exists in the low rainfall rangelands which comprises nearly 50 per cent of NSW.
"Promotion of conservation tillage practices (particularly no-tillage) is important to halt further carbon losses from cropping soils (emission avoidance).
"In addition, SOC can be sequestered by adopting new land conversion and soil amelioration options such as bioenergy crops from perennial vegetation, recycling organics including biochars, and by ameliorating sodic and acid soils."
Visit: www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/areas /resources-research/soils-recycle d-organics/scientific-outputs/200 8/soil_organic
or www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/topic s/biochar