Carbon helps soil retain nutrients and moisture while gluing soil particles together to create space for roots and gas exchange. The Purdue College of Agriculture and the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service are working together to determine how to capture carbon in the soil. The goal is to help farmers improve soil fertility and tap into markets for carbon offsets.

Plants in the field use photosynthesis to turn sunlight into energy. This process requires carbon dioxide. The carbon is fixed in the plant tissues. When the plants die, there is an opportunity to store the carbon in the soil, keeping it out of the atmosphere and increasing soil fertility.

Calcium has proven to be an effective mineral in increasing organic matter in soils and retaining carbon. This is commonly introduced to the soil through the use of gypsum. Conservation tillage and cover crops are other practices that add more carbon to the soil.

Read more on the research being conducted by Purdue and the USDA here.