Essential oil bearing aromatic plants: Their potential for sequestering carbon in marginal soils of India
Khushboo Khan, Rajesh Kumar Verma
Abstract
Abstract Continuous rise in the atmospheric CO 2 concentration upshots the genesis of cataclysmic planetary problems such as global warming and climate change. Another critical issue which is environmentally challenging is land degradation. When productive land is poorly managed, it turns to marginal land. And further degradation of marginal land ends up to being unproductive land. On the Contrary, considerable part of depleted soil C pool can be restored through the adoption of conservation agricultural practices, unproductive land could be converted to marginal land and by its further restoration, into productive land. Aromatic plants can sustain various adverse conditions prevailing on the marginal lands. Aromatic plants require low input but the output is quite high due to the production of highvalue essential oil. The pivotal perspective of utilization of marginal lands of India for the production of aromatic plants would explore factors such as land availability, aromatic plants adaptability, C sequestration potential and economic feasibility. India is the largest exporter of essential oils and produces huge amount of aromatic spent residues, which could be converted into several valueadded products. Proficient recycle of distillation waste of aromatic plants in marginal lands will aid to sequester C in soil and enhance the biomass yield. Improvement in the livelihood of farmers especially in developing nations through rise in production and income diversification would encourage farmers to reclaim their marginal lands and accelerate their transition to aromatically cultivable lands.