Carbon sequestration potential of sustainable agricultural practices to mitigate climate change in Indian agriculture: A meta-analysis

India's agricultural sector ensures food and livelihood security for millions of rural households. However, the adverse effects of climate change pose a severe threat to agricultural sustainability. Compared to conventional practices, sustainable farming offers significant environmental benefits and helps to mitigate climate change im-pacts. In this article, we examined the effects of integrated nutrient management, organic amendment, no-tillage, crop rotation, residue retention, intercropping, and biochar on C sequestration and the influencing factors and associated economic benefits. A total of 2362 pair-wise observations from 295 studies were included in the meta-analysis framework. The result shows that biochar was the most effective practice for enhancing C seques-tration (+41.28 %). Maize-wheat and legume-based cropping systems, medium fine-textured soils, humid -subtropical climate, rainfall, irrigation, and time period were the significant factors that affect carbon sequestra-tion. In addition, our study demonstrated that C sequestration is a dynamic process, and only a limited amount of sequestration is possible from a piece of land. Further, we found that all the improved farming practices that enhance C sequestration were technically feasible and economically profitable. Thus, soil C sequestration through improved crop management practices represents a win-win strategy to combat climate change and conserve natural resources. Therefore, efforts should be directed towards outscaling of sustainable agricultural practices to enhance resilience and adaptation to climate change.(c) 2022 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

India's agricultural sector plays a vital role in providing food and livelihood security for rural households, but it faces severe threats from climate change. Sustainable farming practices, such as integrated nutrient management, organic amendment, and biochar application, have been proven effective in enhancing carbon sequestration and mitigating climate change impacts. Factors such as cropping systems, soil type, climate, rainfall, irrigation, and time period significantly influence carbon sequestration. The study highlights the feasibility and economic profitability of these practices, emphasizing the need for scaling up sustainable agricultural practices to enhance resilience and adaptation to climate change.