Can cropland management practices lower net greenhouse emissions without compromising yield?

Smart cropland management practices can mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while safeguarding food security. However, the integrated effects on net greenhouse gas budget (NGHGB) and grain yield from different management practices remain poorly defined and vary with environmental and application conditions. Here, we conducted a global meta-analysis on 347 observation sets of non-CO GHG (CH and N O) emissions and grain yield, and 412 observations of soil organic carbon sequestration rate (SOCSR). Our results show that for paddy rice, replacing synthetic nitrogen at the rate of 30%-59% with organic fertilizer significantly decreased net GHG emissions (NGHGB: -15.3 ± 3.4 [standard error], SOCSR: -15.8 ± 3.8, non-CO GHGs: 0.6 ± 0.1 in Mg CO eq ha  year ) and improved rice yield (0.4 ± 0.1 in Mg ha  year ). In contrast, intermittent irrigation significantly increased net GHG emissions by 11.2 ± 3.1 and decreased rice yield by 0.4 ± 0.1. The reduction in SOC sequestration by intermittent irrigation (15.5 ± 3.3), which was most severe (>20) in alkaline soils (pH > 7.5), completely offset the mitigation in CH emissions. Straw return for paddy rice also led to a net increase in GHG emissions (NGHGB: 4.8 ± 1.4) in silt-loam soils, where CH emissions (6.3 ± 1.3) were greatly stimulated. For upland cropping systems, mostly by enhancing SOC sequestration, straw return (NGHGB: -3.4 ± 0.8, yield: -0.5 ± 0.6) and no-tillage (NGHGB: -2.9 ± 0.7, yield: -0.1 ± 0.3) were more effective in warm climates. This study highlights the importance of carefully managing croplands to sequester SOC without sacrifice in yield while limiting CH emissions from rice paddies.