Role of Crop Rotation, Organic Amendments, and Conservation Tillage Practices on Climate Change Mitigation: A Review

Agriculture faces the dual challenge of sustaining productivity while mitigating climate change. This critical narrative review synthesizes evidence from open-field studies on crop rotation, organic amendments, and conservation tillage, examining their collective influence on soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics. These practices generally enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (STN), while effects on soil inorganic carbon (SIC) remain less consistent and often depth-dependent. Crop rotation improves SOC and STN stocks, particularly in corn-soybean systems, whereas organic amendments such as compost, biochar, and manure increase SOC but show variable impacts on SIC. Conservation tillage, especially no-till, promotes SOC accumulation but requires careful consideration of sampling depth to avoid misinterpretation of carbon balances. Combined management practices often yield synergistic benefits for SOC and STN, though greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remain mixed and context-specific. This review highlights critical knowledge gaps, including limited field-based data on SIC dynamics and geographic bias toward temperate regions, underscoring the need for broader, long-term studies. Addressing these gaps is essential for advancing climate change mitigation and achieving sustainable development goals.