Agriculture-Related Microorganisms and Carbon Cycle

Dear Colleagues,

The world’s population, which increased from 1.5 billion to 6.1 billion in the 20th century, exceeded 8 billion in November 2022. Sustaining these populations requires increased food production. However, the stable supply of food and the sustainable development of agricultural production must be compatible with the issue of how to reduce the increasing carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere which causes global climate change.

Currently, most chemical nitrogen fertilizers are produced by the Haber–Bosch process. This manufacturing process uses a large amount of fossil energy and emits a large amount of carbon dioxide that induces global warming. Additionally, in agriculture, various machines are used from production to transportation, which consume large amounts of fossil fuels and consequently emit large amounts of carbon dioxide.

Is it possible to reduce the carbon dioxide produced by such agriculture using agriculture-related microorganisms, or to use soil microbes to return carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere from fossil fuels, etc., back to the soil as organic matter?

Considering the carbon cycle on a global scale, it is necessary to create a flow that returns carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to agricultural land as organic matter. Cyanobacteria and photosynthetic bacteria are used as quick-acting nitrogen fertilizers in the tropics, but is there any research on returning carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the soil as organic matter using these highly proliferative microorganisms? Is there any research on returning carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the soil as organic matter using soil microorganisms other than cyanobacteria and photosynthetic bacteria?

We are seeking research papers on how agricultural microorganisms can reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Characterization of microorganisms that reduce the use of chemical nitrogen fertilizers or convert atmospheric carbon dioxide to soil organic matter,
• Technologies for using these microorganisms at agricultural production sites,
• Evaluation of how much the use of biofertilizer can reduce carbon dioxide generated in the chemical nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing process,
• Assessment of the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide converted to soil organic matter by agricultural microorganisms.

Prof. Dr. Tadashi Yokoyama
Guest Editor

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