Deeper rooted crops assist in bringing down the levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and radically improve the ecological benefits declares a study performed by Professor Douglas Kell, a scientist from the University of Manchester.
The research appeared in the journal Annals of Botany. Since deep rooted crops at least 1m deep absorb more carbon from the air, and enable crops to be more drought resistant, they assist in bringing down the carbon levels in the atmosphere.
Breeding deeper roots could slash CO2 levels
Professor Douglas Kell, who also acts as Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council’s (BBSRC’s) Chief Executive, has invented a carbon calculator to demonstrate the possible advantages of growing deep rooted crops. While the fact about carbon getting captured in the soil using normal crops and grasses has been known for years, the research by Professor Kell has brought out the advantages to the environment of growing deep rooted crops.
Professor Kell suggests extensive level of changes in the present agricultural practices in such a way as to increase the yield levels of edible crops considerably to assist the requirements of organic chemicals and transport fuels to displace the use of fossil fuels. He adds that doubling the root depths of most of the currently cultivated agricultural crops will bring down the carbon dioxide emission levels considerably.
He suggests that a number of plants with deep and long-lived roots do exist but are not developed and grown for agricultural purposes. He added that the growing of such plants in addition to bringing in the benefits of carbon sequestration also will assist in doubling the yield of annual grain crops because the long rooted plants collect and hold more food and water for longer periods to withstand drought, flooding and other natural calamities that may happen due to climatic changes.
Source: http://www.manchester.ac.uk