Soil Carbon Sequestration Strategies: Application of Biochar an Option to Combat Global Warming

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an important heat-trapping greenhouse gas (GHG) contributing substantially to global warming with the average annual emission of 409.8 ± 0.01 ppm (2019), increasing at the rate of 2.5 ppm/year. Transferring the atmospheric CO2 and storing it in the long-lived natural carbon pools (i.e., oceans, biotic, pedalogic, and fossil fuel) to avoid its reemission is often termed as carbon sequestrationcarbon sequestration. The terrestrial carbon pool (pedologic pool and biotic pool) accounts for 3120 Petagram (Pg) of carbon (C) which is four times higher than the atmospheric carbon pool, contributing significantly to the global carbon cycle (GCC). Therefore, soil carbon sequestrationcarbon sequestration is considered an important pathway to climate changeclimate change mitigation by achieving the global target of <2 °C. Carbon sequestrationCarbon sequestration in the soil can be achieved by several strategies based on the land use type such as conservation/reduced tillage, afforestation, restoration of peatlands, water conservation, and urban forests. However, adding soil amendments such as biocharBiochar is a promising strategy that considerably increases the positive carbon budget in the soil. Enhancing the soil organic carbon (SOC) using biocharBiochar provides multiple co-benefits such as increased soil fertility, improved water retention, nutrient retention thus provides food security, soil health, and can potentially reduce global warming. To maximize the carbon sequestrationcarbon sequestration in soil, biocharBiochar application in conjunction with other carbon-capturing strategies such as crop rotation, no-tillage (NT), and reforestation should be followed vigorously.