Let That Sink In- Carbon Uptake of Perennial Intermediate Wheatgrass in Southern Sweden

Agriculture is one of the major sources of global greenhouse gas emissions, and faces challenges such as erosion, nutrient leakage, and reliance on external inputs like seeds and fertilizers. These issues are largely driven by the cultivation of annual crops with shallow roots and intensive soil disturbance. Perennial crops, such as intermediate wheatgrass (IWG), could offer a sustainable alternative by reducing emissions, erosion, and input dependency through deep and extensive roots and no-till requirements. This study focuses on IWG, producing the grain Kernza, a novel crop for food production, and investigates the climate mitigation potential of this perennial crop for a more sustainable agricultural system.

Outside Lund in southern Sweden, a 10-ha field of IWG has been established adjacent an equivalent-sized field with conventional annual crop rotation. Carbon dioxide exchange was measured continuously at both of the fields separately using the eddy covariance (EC) technique to account for the first-year’s carbon budget for each field. The cumulative net ecosystem exchange during the first crop cycle (spanning the period between the first and second sowing of annual crops at the control site), has been evaluated. Preliminary findings show that IWG has more than twice the net carbon uptake compared to the conventional annual crop after one crop cycle. Further analyses of the EC data will be undertaken, as well as incorporation of measured above ground biomass (AGB) and fossil fuel use (e.g. machinery) in the carbon budget. The results will be synthesised and presented at the conference.