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Global Community of Practice on Conservation Agriculture <[log in to unmask]>
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From:
Amir Kassam <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 28 Jan 2017 06:56:37 +0000
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Amir Kassam <[log in to unmask]>
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*Global CA-CoP* *CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE*

*for sustainable production intensification and land management*

Dear Subscribers,

In response to the Soil Carbon 4 per mille article distributed earlier (see
details further below), Timothy LaSalle from Chico State University,
California, has sent in the following response which I am distributing for
your information.

There have been other responses which I will distribute.

*Amir Kassam *

*Moderator*

e-mail: [log in to unmask]
URL: www.fao.org/ag/ca


<http://www.fao.org/ag/ca>
[image: Inline image 1]


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Timothy LaSalle <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, Jan 24, 2017 at 7:30 PM
Subject: Re: NB Article: Soil carbon 4 per mille - Geoderma, April 2017
To: Amir Kassam <[log in to unmask]>
Cc: Hendrik Smith <[log in to unmask]>, kofi boa <
[log in to unmask]>, David Johnson <[log in to unmask]>, Richard Teague <
[log in to unmask]>, "<[log in to unmask]>" <[log in to unmask]>, Rose
Marie Burroughs <[log in to unmask]>


Amir,

Thank you for promoting the thinking of sequestration.  It is the only
practical, affordable, shovel ready "technology" we have access to right
now, and the clock on climate change is rapidly running down for us to make
the needed changes.  As you are aware, if we stopped emissions today, the
planet would continue to heat up.  Thus we must work to draw down the
legacy levels of CO2.

In 2008 a couple of us at Rodale took the carbon data of 25+ years and
extrapolated that to posit the idea of drawdown, although we did not use
that term then.  (paper available at:
https://grist.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/rodale_research_paper-07_30_08.pdf
- no need to read, it is now outdated - but we estimated a 100%
sequestration of all emissions)

Since that time many have stepped forward by leading research or advocacy
efforts, which, of course, the 4/1000 is one of the good ones.  Let me also
offer advocacy and educational groups here in the US:  The Carbon
Underground, Regeneration International, Soil for Climate, and many more.
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&e
spv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=the%20carbon%20underground
http://regenerationinternational.org/
https://soil4climate.org/about/

We have birthed an effort at Chico State University under the leadership of
Dr. Cindy Daley, title Regenerative Agriculture Initiative.  The intention
to not just return the carbon to the soil, but in some cases build soils to
higher levels of fertility (carbon) than they have had historically.  This
is with climate in mind first, but this quickly moves to building topsoil
instead of losing it, increasing fertility and productivity, improving
water percolation and the water cycle, etc.  We have a few applications in
place for research grants and will demonstrate the results to students,
farmers, other scientists, and community members.

http://www.csuchico.edu/sustainablefuture/aginitiative/

We had invited David Johnson, PhD from New Mexico State University as our
first internationally recognized scientist in this field.  His
ground-breaking presentation is at this link:
https://media.csuchico.edu/media/Soil+MicrobesA+Their+Powerf
ul+Influence+in+Agroecosytems/0_ltz0ea1h

Dr. Johnson presents a very important challenge to the way we think about
inputs, where fertility comes from, climate mitigation, etc.  His research
results are paradigm changing.  I sincerely hope you can take the time to
view this.

As I am sure you are aware, Dr. Richard Teague at Texas A&M is looking at
rangeland through an ecological systems approaching and finding some
amazingly results.  You may have seen Peter Byck's film on Carbon Cowboys
that features some of the grass based systems that Richard is summarizing.

https://vimeo.com/80518559

David Johnson, mentioned above has taken Gabe Brown's (who is part of the
Carbon Cowboys film) carbon data and summarized it in the attached
document.  With the inclusion of cattle on the multi-species cover-crops he
has attained similar levels of carbon sequestration as Dr. Johnson did with
his fungal:bacterial dominant compost treatments.  (global carbon capture)

I am attaching a document describing regenerative agriculture to emphasize
what the science is telling us.  As you see the integral incorporation of
conservation agriculture principles are here.  We will be releasing this
document within weeks to an international base.

Another organization I am working with is to reduce the short lived climate
forcers (SLCF) of black carbon mostly to reduce (eliminate) agricultural
burning of residues with ICCI and CCAC.  Of course, conservation
agriculture is critical to this effort.  The SLCF is pushing us toward
those temperatures of no return even faster than the very important focus
on CO2.  So I find this critical work.
http://iccinet.org/
http://www.ccacoalition.org/en

If you know of prospective partners or funders for Pakistan, Bolivia,
Ecuador, or Columbia we would love to link.  We are in the implementation
phase in Punjab India and Peru at the moment.

Needless to say, I am very pleased to read this piece from you to the CA
group. Science has informed us of a pathway forward if we rally the kind of
agriculture change that rebuilds our degrading soil systems, while we
reduce and eventually eliminate fossil fuels.  I will always recall your
presentation in Zambia at the CA conference, it was much more respectful of
the biological and ecological principles required for healthy systems than
the majority of presentations.

I was the one at that event who took the heat for saying no to fossil fuel
based fertilizers that Howard Buffett let me prove in poor soils in South
Africa.  Humm, no fossil fuel based inputs, increased biological and
fertility responses, sounds to me my work is supporting the replicated
scientific break-throughs being made by Teague and Johnson.  Of course,
this is the everyday practice and teaching of agronomist and farmer trainer
Kofi Boa, of the Howard Buffett No-till Center in Ghana.

Happy 2017

Tim LaSalle, PhD



On Tue, Jan 24, 2017 at 10:02 AM, Amir Kassam <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> *Global CA-CoP* *CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE*
>
> *for sustainable production intensification and land management*
>
> Dear Susbscribers,
>
> Please see the link for the article entitled:  *Soil carbon 4 per mille.
> By Budiman Minasny et al. Geoderma 292 (2017) 59–86 *(
> http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.01.002)
>
> http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016706117300095
>
> Thank you Hendrik Smith for sharing.
>
> *Abstract*
>
> The ‘4 per mille Soils for Food Security and Climate’ was launched at the
> COP21 with an aspiration to increase global soil organic matter stocks by 4
> per 1000 (or 0.4 %) per year as a compensation for the global emissions of
> greenhouse gases by anthropogenic sources. This paper surveyed the soil
> organic carbon (SOC) stock estimates and sequestration potentials from 20
> regions in the world (New Zealand, Chile, South Africa, Australia,
> Tanzania, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, India, China Taiwan, South Korea,
> China Mainland, United States of America, France, Canada, Belgium, England
> & Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and Russia). We asked whether the 4 per mille
> initiative is feasible for the region. The outcomes highlight region
> specific efforts and scopes for soil carbon sequestration. Reported soil C
> sequestration rates globally show that under best management practices, 4
> per mille or even higher sequestration rates can be accomplished. High C
> sequestration rates (up to 10 per mille) can be achieved for soils with low
> initial SOC stock (topsoil less than 30 t C ha− 1), and at the first
> twenty years after implementation of best management practices. In
> addition, areas which have reached equilibrium will not be able to further
> increase their sequestration. We found that most studies on SOC
> sequestration only consider topsoil (up to 0.3 m depth), as it is
> considered to be most affected by management techniques. The 4 per mille
> number was based on a blanket calculation of the whole global soil profile
> C stock, however the potential to increase SOC is mostly on managed
> agricultural lands. If we consider 4 per mille in the top 1m of global
> agricultural soils, SOC sequestration is between 2-3 Gt C year− 1, which
> effectively offset 20–35% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.
> As a strategy for climate change mitigation, soil carbon sequestration buys
> time over the next ten to twenty years while other effective sequestration
> and low carbon technologies become viable. The challenge for cropping
> farmers is to find disruptive technologies that will further improve soil
> condition and deliver increased soil carbon. Progress in 4 per mille
> requires collaboration and communication between scientists, farmers,
> policy makers, and marketeers.
>
> *Amir Kassam *
>
> *Moderator*
>
> e-mail: [log in to unmask]
> URL: www.fao.org/ag/ca
>
> [image: Inline image 1]
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Hendrik Smith <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Fri, Jan 20, 2017 at 11:01 AM
> Subject: NB Article: Soil carbon 4 per mille - Geoderma, April 2017
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
>
> http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016706117300095
>
>
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