Adding calcium to soils can help increase organic matter, trap more carbon

Farmers add calcium to their soil for many reasons related to increasing crop yields -- including regulating pH and improving soil structure. Using the CLS, researchers from Cornell University and Purdue University have identified a previously undiscovered mechanism triggered by calcium when it’s added to soil. They showed that adding calcium to soil changed the community of microbes in the soil and the way they process organic matter. Calcium enabled them to process it more efficiently, with more carbon retained in the soil and less lost to the atmosphere as CO2. Their finding could lead to more strategic use of the mineral in agriculture.

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Interesting find