Contribution of Organic, Biodynamic, and Conventional Tea Farming Systems for the Clean Development Mechanism

Abstract

Global warming is a significant problem in the world today and carbon sequestration in soil is used to reduce the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. CO2 is the primary gas that causes global warming. The study was conducted at the Tea Research Institute, Talawakelle. Aall treatments were arranged in RCB Design. CO2 evolution rate of soil and roots was measured by using CO2 flux chamber and in vitro method respectively. A Bioassay was conducted using Mung bean plants. Walkley and Black method and Kjeldhal method were used to analyze organic carbon content and nitrogen content. The CO2 evolution rate of organic treatments was 58% and conventional plots showed 42%. The soil organic carbon was 8% and 3.14% in organic treatments and conventional treatment respectively. There was a 155% increment of soil organic carbon content in organic treatments compared to conventional treatments. Leaf organic carbon content showed as 57.7% in organic treatments whereas 38.7% was showed in conventional treatments. The highest root CO2 evolution rate was observed in compost treatments followed by neem oil cake and tea waste and the least was observed in conventional treatments. In BIDORCON, the highest soil CO2 evolution was observed in organic treatments, followed by biodynamic and the least was by conventional treatments. The soil and leaf organic carbon showed a similar pattern. These results indicated that organic farming supports the storage of excess carbon in the soil and plants which leads to a cleaner development mechanism.