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Indigenous African soil enrichment as climate-smart sustainable agriculture alternative

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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Indigenous African soil enrichment as climate-smart sustainable agriculture alternative. / Solomon, Dawit; Lehmann, Johannes; Fraser, James Angus et al.
In: Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Vol. 14, No. 2, 03.2016, p. 71-76.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Solomon, D, Lehmann, J, Fraser, JA, Leach, M, Amanor, K, Frausin, V, Kristiansen, S, Millimouno, D & Fairhead, J 2016, 'Indigenous African soil enrichment as climate-smart sustainable agriculture alternative', Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 71-76. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.1226

APA

Solomon, D., Lehmann, J., Fraser, J. A., Leach, M., Amanor, K., Frausin, V., Kristiansen, S., Millimouno, D., & Fairhead, J. (2016). Indigenous African soil enrichment as climate-smart sustainable agriculture alternative. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 14(2), 71-76. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.1226

Vancouver

Solomon D, Lehmann J, Fraser JA, Leach M, Amanor K, Frausin V et al. Indigenous African soil enrichment as climate-smart sustainable agriculture alternative. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 2016 Mar;14(2):71-76. Epub 2016 Mar 1. doi: 10.1002/fee.1226

Author

Solomon, Dawit ; Lehmann, Johannes ; Fraser, James Angus et al. / Indigenous African soil enrichment as climate-smart sustainable agriculture alternative. In: Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 2016 ; Vol. 14, No. 2. pp. 71-76.

Bibtex

@article{aeed4b7d2ae34d7ea91077d9ae72b5bd,
title = "Indigenous African soil enrichment as climate-smart sustainable agriculture alternative",
abstract = "We report on an ancient-yet-extant indigenous soil management system in West Africa wherein targeted waste deposition transforms highly-weathered, nutrient- and carbon-poor tropical soils into enduringly fertile, carbon-rich black soils. These “African Dark Earths (AfDE)”, store 200-300% more organic carbon with 2-26 times greater pyrogenic carbon (PyC) that persists much longer in soil than other organic carbon, and therefore important for long-term soil fertility and carbon storage. Compared to strongly acidic (pH 4.3-5.3) adjacent soils (AS), AfDE exhibit higher pH (5.6-6.4) ideal for plant growth, 1.4-3.6 times higher plant nutrient retention and exchange capacity, and 1.3-2.2 and 5-270 times more plant-available nitrogen and phosphorus, respectively. Despite limited areas, AfDE make disproportionately high contributions (24%) to total farm household income. 14C radiocarbon ages of pyrogenic carbon (PyC) indicate recent development (115-692 years BP). AfDE are an appropriate “climate-smart” agricultural alternative to conventional agriculture to tackle the “trilemma of soil degradation and food security and climate change challenges” in resource-poor, highly food-insecure regions of the world.",
author = "Dawit Solomon and Johannes Lehmann and Fraser, {James Angus} and Melissa Leach and Kojo Amanor and Victoria Frausin and S{\o}ren Kristiansen and Dominique Millimouno and James Fairhead",
note = "Copyright by the Ecological Society of America . Front Ecol Environ 2016; 14(2): 71–76, doi:10.1002/fee.1226",
year = "2016",
month = mar,
doi = "10.1002/fee.1226",
language = "English",
volume = "14",
pages = "71--76",
journal = "Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment",
issn = "1540-9295",
publisher = "ECOLOGICAL SOC AMER",
number = "2",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Indigenous African soil enrichment as climate-smart sustainable agriculture alternative

AU - Solomon, Dawit

AU - Lehmann, Johannes

AU - Fraser, James Angus

AU - Leach, Melissa

AU - Amanor, Kojo

AU - Frausin, Victoria

AU - Kristiansen, Søren

AU - Millimouno, Dominique

AU - Fairhead, James

N1 - Copyright by the Ecological Society of America . Front Ecol Environ 2016; 14(2): 71–76, doi:10.1002/fee.1226

PY - 2016/3

Y1 - 2016/3

N2 - We report on an ancient-yet-extant indigenous soil management system in West Africa wherein targeted waste deposition transforms highly-weathered, nutrient- and carbon-poor tropical soils into enduringly fertile, carbon-rich black soils. These “African Dark Earths (AfDE)”, store 200-300% more organic carbon with 2-26 times greater pyrogenic carbon (PyC) that persists much longer in soil than other organic carbon, and therefore important for long-term soil fertility and carbon storage. Compared to strongly acidic (pH 4.3-5.3) adjacent soils (AS), AfDE exhibit higher pH (5.6-6.4) ideal for plant growth, 1.4-3.6 times higher plant nutrient retention and exchange capacity, and 1.3-2.2 and 5-270 times more plant-available nitrogen and phosphorus, respectively. Despite limited areas, AfDE make disproportionately high contributions (24%) to total farm household income. 14C radiocarbon ages of pyrogenic carbon (PyC) indicate recent development (115-692 years BP). AfDE are an appropriate “climate-smart” agricultural alternative to conventional agriculture to tackle the “trilemma of soil degradation and food security and climate change challenges” in resource-poor, highly food-insecure regions of the world.

AB - We report on an ancient-yet-extant indigenous soil management system in West Africa wherein targeted waste deposition transforms highly-weathered, nutrient- and carbon-poor tropical soils into enduringly fertile, carbon-rich black soils. These “African Dark Earths (AfDE)”, store 200-300% more organic carbon with 2-26 times greater pyrogenic carbon (PyC) that persists much longer in soil than other organic carbon, and therefore important for long-term soil fertility and carbon storage. Compared to strongly acidic (pH 4.3-5.3) adjacent soils (AS), AfDE exhibit higher pH (5.6-6.4) ideal for plant growth, 1.4-3.6 times higher plant nutrient retention and exchange capacity, and 1.3-2.2 and 5-270 times more plant-available nitrogen and phosphorus, respectively. Despite limited areas, AfDE make disproportionately high contributions (24%) to total farm household income. 14C radiocarbon ages of pyrogenic carbon (PyC) indicate recent development (115-692 years BP). AfDE are an appropriate “climate-smart” agricultural alternative to conventional agriculture to tackle the “trilemma of soil degradation and food security and climate change challenges” in resource-poor, highly food-insecure regions of the world.

U2 - 10.1002/fee.1226

DO - 10.1002/fee.1226

M3 - Journal article

VL - 14

SP - 71

EP - 76

JO - Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

JF - Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

SN - 1540-9295

IS - 2

ER -