Soil carbon sequestration (SCS) is one of the cheapest and technically least demanding carbon dioxide (CO2)
removal (CDR) or negative CO2 emission technologies. For a realistic assessment of SCS, it is critical to evaluate
how much carbon (C) can be stored in soil organic matter under actual agricultural practices. This includes
typical crop rotations and fertilization strategies, depends on resources that are available (e.g. farmyard manure
(FYM)) and are affordable for farmers. Furthermore, it is important to assess SCS based on given climatic and soil
conditions. Here, we evaluate changes in soil C storage for Switzerland using data from eleven long-term field
experiments on cropland and permanent grassland that include common local practices.
At all sites, changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks were measured in topsoil (∼0-0.2 m) in response to a
total of 80 different treatments including different types of mineral or organic fertilization (e.g. FYM, slurry,
peat, compost) or soil management (tillage vs. no-till). The treatments were applied to different, diverse crop
rotations or grass mixtures that are representative for Switzerland. We found that topsoils lost C at an average
rate of 0.29 Mg C ha−1 yr−1, although many of the investigated treatments were expected to lead to SOC
increases. Based on a linear mixed effects model we showed that SOC change rates (ΔSOC) were driven by C
inputs to soil (harvest residues and organic fertilizer), soil cover and initial SOC stocks. The type of land use or
soil tillage had no significant effect. Our analysis suggests that current efforts to manage soils sustainably need to
be intensified and complemented with further techniques if Switzerland wants to achieve the goal of the 4 per
1000 initiative.