CO-benefits and Risks of Enhanced Silicate weathering in agriculture

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CO2 is a potent greenhouse gas and the primary cause of global climate change (GCC). Among others, GCC induces extreme weather events, producing an extensive impact on natural and agricultural systems. Climate change mitigation requires an urgent decrease in CO2 emissions together with active CO2 removal from the atmosphere. Enhanced silicate weathering (ESW) is a promising negative emission technology for CO2 removal but requires further research. ESW accelerates the natural process of weathering-based silicate to carbonate transformation, by increasing the surface area of silicate rocks. During the weathering process, CO2 is sequestered. Agricultural fields are ideal for ESW, due to ease of access, equipment availability and infrastructural capacity. In an agricultural setting, this application can be further beneficial as the silicate rocks like basalt contains elements that promote plant growth and soil health. In addition, GCC endangers crop production by inducing drought and salinity. Approximately 75% of the cropland is subjected to drought-related yield loss while salinity affects around 50-80% of global croplands. Moreover, impacts of drought and salinity are anticipated to rise in the future due to GCC. The negative effects of drought and salinity can be countered by ESW through (i) the preservation of crop yield and quality by the silicon (Si) mediated drought and salt stress tolerance in plants and (ii) the protection of soil microbiota by the stabilization of soil chemistry. Although ESW could contribute to climate change adaptation in agriculture, these promising co-benefits were never assessed, and further research is needed to evaluate this potential in different agricultural settings. In project CORES, I aim to examine the potential of ESW, with silicate mineral basalt, for the protection of yield and quality of major crop maize and associated soil microbiota under drought and saline conditions and establish the groundwork for future field trials.