A discovery nearly 15 years in the making could have far-reaching consequences for global food security in our warming world.
A multinational team of researchers published their findings in October from a study that began in 2010, showing that with the right growing methods, soil health and crop yields improved in warming conditions.
"The combination of conservation agriculture and experimental warming … stimulated an increase in soil health indicators indicating improved water infiltration and storage (soil aggregate stability), carbon and nutrient cycling, and microbial activity," the authors wrote.
They spent eight years comparing conservation agriculture to conventional agriculture on the North China Plain, studying each method's effectiveness on a crop rotation system under ambient conditions and an infrared heater that increased the surface soil temperature by 2 degrees Celsius.
The study, called "Conservation agriculture improves soil health and sustains crop yields after long-term warming" and published in Nature Communications, revealed that the warming boosted microbial biomass carbon and fungal diversity in the soil to yield 9.3% more wheat via conservation agriculture. In general, conservation agriculture made soil 21% healthier than conventional agriculture while producing similar yields.
The warming did not affect maize production, but conservation agriculture did, improving yields under both temperature conditions. Importantly, this research showed no reduction in the production of wheat or maize yields using conservation agriculture; "Globally, crop yields under conservation agriculture are estimated to be 2.5% less than those of conventional agriculture," the authors wrote.
This news is similar to the discovery made at a Kansas farm that was not tilled for 22 years. That study showed soil amended with compost-fortified manure stored more carbon than soil treated with chemical fertilizers or no fertilizer.
Taken together, the news offers hope that the vast amounts of heat-trapping carbon pollution being emitted into the atmosphere won't stifle our food supply. One billion people already lack access to food, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, and production needs to scale up by 60% by 2050, per the World Bank. So, without sustainability improvements, agriculture will only further drive emissions and global heating.
The researchers cautioned that their results may only apply to similar climates and where water scarcity is not a problem, as conservation agriculture should be carefully assessed before implementation.
"This study provides empirical evidence for the potential benefits of conservation agriculture for long-term sustainable food production because improved soil health improves resilience to the effects of climate warming through its effects on physical, chemical and biological soil properties," they wrote.
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