
Agronomists have known about the benefits of HC+CO2 in the soil for about 100 years. The use of CO2 in green houses has even become common practice. Due to the use of HC+CO2 during cultivation, farmers may experience enormous rise of yields in all crops while reducing expenses up to 50% in agrochemicals and fertilizers.
Agriculture is the only sector, which may even highly benefit from the rise of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere, through the so-called “CO2-fertilising effect”. Increased yields of up to 20% are possible only with an optimized consumption of athmospheric CO2. This also resultsin an icreased qhality of the harvested products. More CO2 in the atmosphere also requires lesser stomata in order to absorb CO2 emissions, which in highly beneficial under drought conditions, because in this way lesser water evaporates.
The activity of photosynthesis of most crops, which is at a current level of 0,04% CO2 (400 ppm) in the atmosphere, is indeed suboptimal Better effects with C3-plants (90% of all terrestrial plants, including wheat, rice, potatoes and soy) can be reached at 3-5 times higher levels instead. In orther words, higher levels of CO2 help the plant’s metabolism and also take up an important part of the photosynthesis process. Improved water utilisation is also a positive consequence.
The result is visible in dry and hot periods, when the crop is unable to absorb CO2 which often causes its dieback. During summer time, the level of CO2 in the atmosphere is lesser than during winter time. Thus, lesser CO2 is available for absorption. Hence, CO2 turns out to be at this period a limiting factor, which will also reduce the activity of photosynthesis and, as a result, the plant growth.
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