Carbon Management

More Carbon Per Drop: An Approach for Enhancing Soil Carbon Sequestration in Arid and Semi-arid Regions

Soil carbon (C) storage has been emphasized since the launch of the 4p1000 initiative at COP21 by UNFCC under the framework of the Paris Climate Agreement for limiting global warming below the 2^oC threshold. Achieving this target requires a large-scale implementation of soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation practices across crops and land uses. However, there is no consensus on negative emissions technologies and their potential to mitigate climate change, specifically in the face of increasing aridity and high weather variability in arid and semi-arid regions that cover more than 40% of the land area in the world. Increasing C sequestration in water-limited environments is challenging because low moisture and associated biophysical constraints limit biomass production.

More carbon per drop is an approach to enhance C sequestration in a water-limited environment. This approach emphasizes increasing SOC sequestration and reducing greenhouse gas emissions while improving water use efficiency and soil water storage in water-limited landscapes. This can be achieved by a) developing water-efficient high biomass crops and varieties, b) adopting good management practices leading to better utilization of available water (for example, timely planting, efficient planting techniques, etc.), c) promoting the cultivation of crops with deeper, denser, and more recalcitrant rooting systems, and d) adopting conservation and regenerative soil management practices that increase the amount and diversity of exogenous C inputs, reduces C loss and GHG emissions, and enhances soil C stabilization. These practices include adopting reduced and no-tillage management, using water-efficient crops in crop rotation or as cover crops, perennial cropping, and improved crop and nutrient management. Implementing policies promoting both C sequestration and soil water storage could provide natural climate solutions to the vast area facing water limitations for sustainable crop production.

This Article Collection aims to publish broad research topics focused on enhancing C sequestration in water-limited environments where simultaneous improvement in soil C and water storage is critical for sustaining agriculture. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Opportunities and challenges of SOC sequestration in a water-limited environment
• Crop breeding and variety development for improving water use efficiency and carbon sequestration
• Conservation and regenerative farming practices, including no-tillage, reduced tillage, cover cropping, crop rotation, integrated nutrient management, perennial cropping, etc.
• Conversion of annual cropping land to perennial native vegetation
• Techniques to enhance soil water conservation and soil C storage
• Mechanism involving stabilization of C in the landscape
• Sustainable land and water management in degrading drylands to improve water storage
• The social, economic, and cultural challenges of changing management practices for C sequestration
• Better integration of crop-livestock systems to improve carbon input into the soil, especially through reducing grazing pressure.
• Policy limitations and guidelines for incentivizing SOC sequestration in water-limited environments

­­All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo a full peer-review; the Guest Advisors for this Collection will not be handling the manuscripts (unless they are an Editorial Board member).

Please review the journal scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.

The deadline for submitting manuscripts is January 9, 2026.

Please contact Kara Roberts (kara.roberts@taylorandfrancis.com) with any queries and discount codes regarding this Article Collection.

Dr. Rajan Ghimire's research program focuses on improving the efficiency and profitability of agricultural systems and environmental quality by advancing our understanding of soil and ecological health, nutrient cycling, carbon storage and greenhouse gas emissions, and sustainable crop production practices. Specific areas of his research include evaluating soil health, soil organic carbon dynamics, soil carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas emissions, and soil nutrient dynamics. Dr. Ghimire has published over 100 journal papers, 10 book chapters, >150
conference abstracts and proceedings, and 17 extension publications, and delivered many invited lectures. He has collaborated on over 25 successful externally funded grants and contracts, with total funding worth $58 million and $5.2 million as a lead PI. Dr. Ghimire has led and mentored a diverse team of students and scientists, including postdoctoral scholars, and graduated many students as an advisor or committee member.

Institutional page: https://pes.nmsu.edu/faculty-staff/soil/rajan-ghimire.html

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6962-6066

Dr. Sawssan Boufous joined the Extension Economics Department at the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences as Extension Specialist/Assistant Professor. Previously, she served as Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center/IFAS of the University of Florida in Immokalee, FL. Her research and extension programs focus on sustainability with a high interest in issues affecting producers’ profitability and their economic behavior regarding the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices. Her research work and interest include also: consumer demand for sustainable products, non-market valuation, carbon markets, multi-BMPs adoption, and behavioral economics. Dr. Boufous holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Agricultural and Applied Economics from Texas Tech University, Lubbock, and a Ph.D. in Economics and Management Sciences as well as a M.S. in Corporate and Market Finance earned at Mohammed V University of Rabat, Morocco.

Institutional page: https://aeab.nmsu.edu/extension/extension-economics-faculty/sawssan-boufous.html

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9258-1783

Dr. Sushil Thapa joined the University of Central Missouri in August 2020. Previously, he worked with the Texas A&M University. Over the years, Dr. Thapa received several academic awards and scholarships, including two prestigious awards in the Texas A&M - the “Award of Excellence” and the “Special Achievement Award for Research Collaboration.” In 2013, he was selected for the “Future Leader Fellowship Program” by the Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development (AIARD), Washington, D.C. He also received the Dutch Government Scholarship and Chinese Government Scholarship to pursue his higher education. Dr. Thapa earned his Ph.D. in Systems Agriculture/Agronomy from West Texas A&M University in Texas and M.S. in Agro Ecology from Wageningen University in the Netherlands. His teaching and research interests are focused on cropping systems, whole plant physiology, soil nutrient management, soil-plant-water-environment interaction, biotic and abiotic stress management in field and forage crops, and precision agriculture and remote sensing.

Institutional page: https://www.ucmo.edu/college-of-health-science-and-technology/department-of-agriculture/faculty/sushil-thapa/index.php

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5589-8124

Dr. Mina Devkota-Wasti has more than ten years-research experience in different fields of agronomy and soil science in South Asia and the irrigated dry lands of Central Asia. Before joining ICARDA, she worked as an agronomist for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), and was based in Nepal for nearly seven years coordinating the Cereal Systems Initiatives for South Asia (CSISA) program. While in Nepal, she taught agronomy at several universities. Dr. Devkota-Wasti has experience in resource conservation technologies and scale-appropriate agricultural mechanization. Her work has focused on best practices for the agronomic management of cereals and legumes in order to close yield gaps. She also has considerable experience in on-farm experimentation and scaling-out technologies. Dr. Devkota-Wasti received a Ph.D. degree in agronomy from the University of Bonn in Germany, with field research in Uzbekistan.

Institutional page: https://icarda.org/about-us/our-experts/mina-kumari-devkota-wasti

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2348-4816

Dr. Jun Wang is a professor and doctoral supervisor. His research interest covers soil carbon, nitrogen cycling, greenhouse gas emissions, and the formation mechanism of water and fertilizer productivity in dryland farmland ecosystems.

Institutional page: https://env.nwu.edu.cn/en/info/1014/1043.htm

Conflict of Interest Disclosure

The Guest Advisors do not have any Conflicts of Interest to disclose.