<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The historical contribution of agriculture to human-induced climate change is indisputable; the removal of natural vegetation and soil cultivation to feed the growing human population has resulted in a substantial carbon transfer to the atmosphere. While maintaining their food production capacity, soft fruit production systems now have an opportunity to utilise a recent technology change to enhance their carbon sequestration capacity. We use an example of a farm in South-East England to illustrate how the soft fruit crop production system can be optimised for carbon storage. We performed an audit of carbon stocks in the soil and tree biomass and show that it is imperative to plan crop rotation to establish (semi) permanent inter-row strips that will remain <italic>in situ</italic> even if the main crop is replaced. These strips should be covered with grassland vegetation, preferable with deeper rooting grass species mixed with species supporting nitrogen fixation. Finally, grassland mowing cuttings should be left <italic>in situ</italic> and hedgerows and tree windbreaks should be expanded across the farm. Modern soft fruit production systems can enhance their carbon storage while maintaining commercially relevant levels of productivity.</p>
</abstract>

The historical contribution of agriculture to human-induced climate change is indisputable; the removal of natural vegetation and soil cultivation to feed the growing human population has resulted in a substantial carbon transfer to the atmosphere. While maintaining their food production capacity, soft fruit production systems now have an opportunity to utilise a recent technology change to enhance their carbon sequestration capacity. We use an example of a farm in South-East England to illustrate how the soft fruit crop production system can be optimised for carbon storage. We performed an audit of carbon stocks in the soil and tree biomass and show that it is imperative to plan crop rotation to establish (semi) permanent inter-row strips that will remain in situ even if the main crop is replaced. These strips should be covered with grassland vegetation, preferable with deeper rooting grass species mixed with species supporting nitrogen fixation. Finally, grassland mowing cuttings should be left in situ and hedgerows and tree windbreaks should be expanded across the farm. Modern soft fruit production systems can enhance their carbon storage while maintaining commercially relevant levels of productivity.

Opportunities for carbon sequestration in intensive soft fruit production systems

University of Reading, School of Agriculture

Acta Horticulturae et Regiotecturae

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The historical contribution of agriculture to human-induced climate change is indisputable; the removal of natural vegetation and soil cultivation to feed the...

Opportunities for carbon sequestration in intensive soft fruit production systems

Published Online: Nov 01, 2022

Page range: 107 - 114

Received: Jun 01, 2022

Accepted: Oct 08, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ahr-2022-0014

Keywords
soft fruit, carbon storage, table-top, tree biomass

© 2022 Martin Lukac, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Opportunities for carbon sequestration in intensive soft fruit production systems

Published Online: Nov 01, 2022

Page range: 107 - 114

Received: Jun 01, 2022

Accepted: Oct 08, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ahr-2022-0014

Keywordssoft fruit, carbon storage, table-top, tree biomass

© 2022 Martin Lukac, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
soft fruit, carbon storage, table-top, tree biomass