Sequestering carbon in soils of agro-ecosystems

► The study addresses the potential and challenges of carbon sequestration in agricultural soils. ► Technical potential of C sequestration is 1.2-3.1Gt/yr. ► Increasing C pool in the root zone by 1t/yr can increase production in developing countries by 24-32 million t/yr for food grains and 6-10 million t/yr for roots and tubers. ► The strategy is to adopt conservation tillage, cover cropping, manuring, agroforestry, biochar and other amendments. ► Rather than subsidies, adoption of these technologies can be promoted by payments for ecosystem services.