ABSTRACT
Carbon farming potentially offers landholders financial incentives to reduce carbon pollution, but should always aim to achieve multiple economic and environmental co-benefits. Green manuring aims to kill weeds and control seed set while building soil organic matter and nitrogen status. Green or brown manuring solely for carbon credits is not viable because there isn’t an approved methodology for generating carbon credits from this activity, but green or brown manuring could be one component of a farming system. Brown manuring with legumes should be considered, especially by growers in southern New South Wales, as diminishing growing-season rainfall is putting downward pressure on yields. Green manure crops are commonly associated with organic farming, and are considered essential for annual cropping systems that wish to be sustainable. The research on the use of green and brown manures in wheat cropping systems in Mediterranean-type environments in the light of contemporary pressures on cropping systems including changing climates, increasing costs and declining profit margins.
