Soil Carbon Enhancement for Sustainable Climate-Smart Agriculture
A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Soils".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 May 2026 | Viewed by 2
Special Issue Editors
Interests: soil CO2 and N2O emission; tillage; fertilization
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Climate change poses growing challenges for agriculture, and meeting rising food demands will only be achievable if crop security is maintained. Soils play a significant role in this process, as balanced crop production is only possible on healthy soil. Intensive agricultural production can degrade our soils, threatening balanced and productive crop production. Implementing climate-smart agricultural systems is crucial for enhancing in soil carbon sequestration and sustainability, which in turn supports food security and climate change adaptation. The organic matter content of soils greatly influences their structure and productivity, so practices that help preserve soil carbon or reduce carbon loss contribute to the achievement of mitigation and adaptation goals. At the same time, the applicability of various climate-smart agricultural practices depends largely on local climatic and soil conditions. Developing climate-smart agricultural practices requires an understanding of how different greenhouse gases are released and stored in soils. By managing soil effectively, we can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance carbon storage, thereby contributing to both national and global climate goals.
The aim of this Special Issue is to provide an overview of different soil management practices that improve soil health, increase soil carbon content or reduce greenhouse gas emissions, covering the main topics of interest:
- soil physico-chemical and biological changes in different soil management practices;
- applicability of climate-smart practices depending on climatic conditions;
- the role of cover crops and organic manure in climate-smart agriculture;
- management practices to reduce CO2, N2O and CH4 emission in agricultural systems;
- simulation of carbon and GHG fluxes under different management scenarios;
- sustainability of crop productivity in reduced cultivation;
- plant protection options in regenerative farming;
- how to link soil biodiversity or ecosystem services to agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability;
- Contribution of soil management practices to national and global climate targets.
Results from laboratory studies, field experiments, and modeling are also welcome. This Special Issue will provide a perspective on how soil management is a keystone of climate-resilient, sustainable agricultural systems.
Dr. Eszter Tóth
Dr. Marianna Magyar
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- sustainable soil management
- regenerative agriculture
- carbon sequestration
- GHG mitigation
- conservation and reduced tillage
- cover crops
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