2026-10-06T21:10:43Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/34069674 2026-10-05T13:52:01Z category_26941 item_type_3 month_year_10_2026

<b>Data-driven Biochar-Nitrogen Fertilization Strategies to Maximize Yield and Climate Change Mitigation in China</b> Wenxin Fu (1328004) Environmental management biochar GHG crop yield climate-smart agriculture <p dir="ltr">China’s agricultural sector faces the dual challenge of sustaining crop productivity while mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Combining biochar and nitrogen fertilizer additions (BF) offers a promising pathway for climate-smart agriculture (CSA). However, operational and predictive frameworks for guiding BF application across diverse agroecosystems remain lacking. Here, we integrated 3,220 field observations of staple crops with machine-learning modeling to develop BF strategies with dual benefits for yield improvement and carbon reduction. Yield-targeted BF (YBF) was designed to maximize yield improvement, increasing total national crop production by 10.8% ± 1.5% (636.5 ± 9.6 Tg yr^-1) relative to business-as-usual (BAU). The carbon-mitigating BF (CBF) strategy reduces the national net GHG emissions by 98.2% ± 3.2% relative to BAU, from 451.6 ± 6.8 to 8.3 ± 13.6 Tg CO₂-eq yr^-1, while maintaining crop yield (~1.0% improvement). Even though the YBF and CBF require a biochar amount higher than the currently available biomass-derived supply in one year, this result can be achieved through several years of biochar application, and we develop a framework that prioritizes deployment in high-return provinces as a feasible mitigation pathway. We further identify feasibility thresholds as functions of carbon price and biochar cost, and evaluate the long-term benefits and resilience of BF, thereby providing a boundary-aware, data-driven decision-support framework for CSA in China.</p> 2026-10-05T13:52:01Z Dataset Dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.34069674.v3 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/_b_Data-driven_Biochar-Nitrogen_Fertilization_Strategies_to_Maximize_Yield_and_Climate_Change_Mitigation_in_China_b_/34069674 MIT