Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Emissions Mitigation From Agricultural and Horticultural Production Systems

Activities from agriculture, horticulture, forestry and other related land use comprise some 24% of global emissions, making agriculture and related activities the world’s second largest emitter of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions after the energy sector. It follows that, to meet the United Nations Paris Agreement by limiting global warming to 1.5-2^oC above pre-industrial levels, mitigation of GHG emissions from plant production systems needs to be central to the solution of climate change.

Greenhouse gas emissions in plant production systems include methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide generated from agricultural and horticultural soils, burning of savanna and crop residue, liming and urea application, rice paddies, and from the burning of electricity and fuel. Such diversity of GHG emission sources means that there is significant scope for GHG mitigation through reduction, enhanced removal, avoidance and/or displacement.

Potential actions include: enhanced monitoring for optimized timing and application of nitrogen (N) fertilizers to crops, improved crop and pasture management, restoration of degraded lands, cultivated organic soils, as well as using crops and residues from agricultural lands as fuel sources instead of fossil fuels.

As food production is a multifaceted, interdisciplinary and cross-scalar process, systems-based approaches are needed to allow analyses of co-benefits or trade-offs between GHG emissions mitigation and other metrics of importance, such as productivity, climate resilience or adaptation, profitability and water use.

In this Research Topic, we solicit papers with a focus on the measurement or modelling of greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural and horticultural activities, with emphasis on systems-based approaches. Examples include (but are not limited to):

- Analyses of the nexus between GHG emissions and other metrics under climate change, such as productivity, profitability and/or water-use

- Application of the most recent monitoring tools for gas, nitrogen and water fluxes, their implications when used as part of a measurement system, and how these tools can be used to assess GHG mitigation

- Effects of land-use cover change, restoration of degraded lands and change of farming practices on GHG emissions

- Plant-microbial interactions in the rhizosphere, microbial communities involved into gaseous N losses and the use of bio-stimulants as techniques for GHG emissions assessment and/or mitigation

- The influence of soil C:N ratio manipulation via soil amendments such as bio-solids or catch cropping on GHG emissions

- Enhanced carbon capture processes via plant growth through use of heat and/or CO₂ from industrial processes in protected cultivation

We encourage innovative and controversial technologies that will stimulate debate. We invite high-risk, novel methodologies, in particular studies that transcend disciplinary boundaries.