Soil carbon is essential for soil health as it enhances soil structure, fuels microbial activity, improves fertility by providing nutrients, and increases resilience to environmental stresses. Carbon sequestration, the process of capturing and storing atmospheric CO₂ in the soil, helps minimize net CO₂ emissions from agriculture that contribute to climate change.
This special collection brings together recent articles in CSA News that focus on soil carbon, highlighting the underlying science and beneficial management practices.
The Societies recognize top-notch students every year with the Gerald O. Mott Meritorious Graduate Student Award in Crop Science and the National Student Recognition Award. The former is for graduate students pursuing advanced degrees in crop science disciplines. The latter for seniors enrolled in agronomic, crop, soil, or environmental science departments.
This three-part series focuses on fostering microbial activity and diversity through better management practices and strategies. Part 1 discusses the soil microbiome and its importance along with factors affecting microbial activity in agricultural systems. Part 2 looks at management practices for better microbial activity and diversity. Part 3 examines monitoring and quantification of microbial diversity, challenges for adopting sustainable practices, government policy, and scaling microbial diversity from smaller to larger agricultural systems.
The term “microbiome” refers to a collective assembly of microorganisms within a specific environment, including fungi, bacteria, and viruses, influencing dynamic functions within the system. Microbes play a pivotal role in the production of various food items, wines, and medicinal compounds. Their significance in agriculture and ecology is monumental, which will be explored in this two-part series.
