Assessment of Carbon Sequestration Potential Through Cotton Crop Residue Incorporation in Adilabad District of Telangana, India

Abstract

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is the predominant cash crop of Adilabad district, Telangana, occupying approximately 1,60,000 hectares of the total cultivated area. Given the district's semi-arid climate and deep black cotton soils, cotton residue incorporation presents a significant opportunity for Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) sequestration. This study assesses the carbon sequestration potential of cotton crop residue incorporation in Adilabad district using ground-truth biomass measurements, satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from Sentinel-2 imagery and FAO Global Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration Potential (GSOC seq) database. Above Ground Biomass (AGB) measurements were conducted at farmers' fields and the instructional farm, yielding average residue biomass of 1.80 t/ha. Soil organic carbon sequestration potential across 30 villages confirmed with sequestration rates ranging from 0.109 to 0.170 t/ha/year (district average: 0.14 t ha-1 year-1). Applying a carbon sequestration rate (t ha-1 year-1) of 0.14, the average carbon stock was estimated at 0.25 t C ha-1 year-1. Extrapolated across the district's cotton area, the total annual carbon sequestration potential is 40,000 t C year-1. A multi-pronged adoption strategy encompassing adoption of residue management, mechanization and conservation agriculture through farmers training, policy incentives, digital monitoring and carbon market linkages is proposed to operationalize soil carbon sequestration across the district.