Carbon vaults on farmlands: Unveiling the carbon sequestration potential of trees for climate resilience

Farmlands are emerging as a crucial landscape for sequestering carbon, while trees acting as a natural carbon vault that capture and store atmospheric carbon dioxide in biomass and soil. Understanding the potential of trees in sequestering carbon is essential for assessing their role in climate resilience and sustainable management practices. This review evaluates the carbon storage capacity of various tree species, examining factors such as species allocation, carbon accumulation and sequestration rates. By exploring the existing research, it highlights how various agroforestry systems contribute to long term carbon storage, with sequestration rates ranging from 0.29 to 15.21 Mg C ha-1 year-1 in aboveground biomass and 30 to 300 Mg C ha-1 year-1 in soil. Short-rotation species have demonstrated rapid carbon uptake, while long-rotation species contribute to sustained sequestration over the decades. This review also highlights the challenges in precisely quantifying carbon stocks, emphasizing the need for advanced allometric models, remote sensing and standardized methodologies. Additionally, the potential for monetizing farmland carbon stocks through carbon credits and offset trading is explored, emphasizing the economic viability of tree based carbon sequestration. While policies support afforestation and tree farming implementation gaps need to be filled. In conclusion, trees in farmlands hold immense promise as carbon sink, reinforcing the need for research driven strategies, policy support and financial incentives to enhance their role in mitigating climate change and strengthening climate resilience.