Degraded pastures can become carbon reservoirs when they are well managed, according to a long-term study by Embrapa Instrumentação, supported by FAPESP, carried out in the interior of São Paulo state, Brazil.
With “moderate intensification” — correcting soil acidity, fertilising and keeping a balanced number of animals — carbon in the top metre of soil rose from 102 to 162 tonnes per hectare between 2011 and 2020, about 2 tonnes per hectare per year more than on degraded pasture.
High intensification with irrigation and heavy nitrogen use brought no significant gain, at 111 tonnes per hectare. The well-managed pasture also held more mineral-associated carbon, the most stable form.
The project estimates that Brazil has about 50 million hectares of degraded pasture that could be recovered. The results were published in Geoderma and Soil & Tillage Research.
