ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the nutrient requirements for sequestering carbon (C) in soil. It stresses that in reality it is organic matter rather than C that is being sequestered, and C is just one component. Carbon sequestration is in many ways a nebulous term, particularly when applied to soil. The Food and Agriculture Organization states that the long-term conversion of grassland and forestland to cropland has resulted in historic losses of soil carbon worldwide but there is a major potential for increasing soil carbon through restoration of degraded soils and widespread adoption of soil conservation practices. Soil physical properties are generally degraded, but decomposition of soil organic carbon provides nutrients for crop growth and this is the reason that tillage was and still is considered desirable by many farmers. Humus formation and decomposition occur simultaneously in all soils, but generally at much faster rates in cropland soils.
