Soil organic carbon (SOC), a key component of the global carbon (C) pool, plays an important role in C cycling, regulating climate, water supplies and biodiversity, and therefore in providing the ecosystem services that are essential to human well-being. Most agricultural soils in temperate regions have now lost as much as 60% of their SOC, and as much as 75% in tropical regions, due to conversion from natural ecosystems to agricultural uses and mainly due to continuous soil degradation. Sequestering C can help to offset C emissions from fossil fuel combustion and other C-emitting activities, while also enhancing soil quality and long-term agronomic productivity.
However, developing effective policies for creating terrestrial C sinks is a serious challenge in tropical and subtropical soils, due to the high average annual temperatures in these regions. It can be accomplished by implementing improved land management practices that add substantial amounts of biomass to soil, cause minimal soil disturbance, conserve soil and water, improve soil structure, and enhance soil fauna activity. Continuous no-till crop production is arguably the best example.
These soils need technically sound and economically feasible strategies to sustainably enhance their SOC pools. Hence, this book provides comprehensive information on SOC and its management in different land-use systems, with a focus on preserving soils and their ecosystem services. The only book of its kind, it offers a valuable asset for students, researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders involved in the sustainable development and management of natural resources at the global level.
Dr. Probir Kumar Ghosh, Former Director, IGFRI, Jhansi is presently working as National Coordinator, National Agricultural Higher Education Project (World Bank Funded), ICAR, New Delhi, India. He has graduated from Visva Bharati, Shantiniketan, and post-graduated (M.Sc. (Ag) and Ph.D.) from GBP AU&T, Pant Nagar. He is serving in ICAR since last 27 years at various capacities. He has outstanding publication records (267) with 4879 citations, 34 h- index and 73 i10 index. He is a fellow of National Academy of Agriculture Sciences and National Academy of Sciences and 20 National Awards in his credit including MS Randhawa Memorial Award and Vasaantrao Nayak Award.
Dr. S.K. Mahanta, after completion of doctoral studies at ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, started his career as Scientist and currently serving as Principal Scientist at ICAR-Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Jhansi. He has more than 23 yearsof research and extension experience in farm animal nutrition and feeding. He specializes in grazing and pasture management, forage evaluation and development of forage based feeding system for different categories of ruminant animals. He has over 70 research papers of national and international repute and 5 books to his credit. He is recipient of Endeavour Award of Australian Government and Fellow of Range Management Society of India & Animal Nutrition Association of India. At present, he is Editor of Range Management and Agroforestry journal and active member of many scientific societies.
Dr. Debashis Mandal received MSc degree in Soil Science with majors in Soil Chemistry from GBPUA&T, Pantnagar and the PhD degree on Physical Chemistry of Soil from IARI, New Delhi. Debashis currently holds a renowned post of ICAR National Fellow with emphasis on Land Degradation since 2014 at the Faculty of ICAR-IISWC, Dehradun. His research interests comprise assessment and monitoring of soil erosion and soil sustainability with emphasis on land degradation processes. Debashis was PI & Co-PI of various experiments in 15 research projects. Debashis worked as a visiting scientist at CMASC, at Ohio State University, Columbus, in 2013 and conducted research with Prof. Rattan Lal on soil erosion and carbon dynamics. In 2014 he worked on applied use of fallout radionuclides for assessing erosion induced carbon losses from various phases of erosion. Debashis has around 55 peer reviewed articles in scientific journals and was involved in the organization of various national and international conferences.
Dr. Biswapati Mandal is currently working as Professor in Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, West Bengal and engaged in research on carbon management in soils under rice-based cropping systems, soil quality and micronutrient management in deficient soils with a group of young researchers. He is a good mentor of research studentsand supervised 42 Ph.D. and 31 sponsored research projects funded by different National and International agencies. He is recognized with a few awards including those from the Prime Minister and President of India and fellowships by National Academies and Societies for his fundamental contributions in soil science.
Dr. Srinivasan R. obtained MSc (Ag.) in Agri. Microbiology from University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad and Ph.D. in Microbiology from Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. He served as Assistant Professor in CDFST, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur from 2007-12 and currently working as Senior Scientist in ICAR-Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Jhansi. His area of specialization is Agricultural and Soil Microbiology and his researching on stress tolerant inoculant bioformulations, PGPR for abiotic stress tolerance in plants, microbes for soil health, and nanotechnology applications in agriculture. He is a life member of 9 professional societies and recipient of 6 awards. He has guided 8 masters and one Ph.D. students.
