Measuring the influence of long-term agricultural tillage practices on soil organic carbon (SOC) is of great importance to farmers and policymakers. Different management practices affected SOC mainly at the soil surface level. The different fractions of SOC viz. total SOC, particulate organic carbon, soil microbial biomass carbon, and potentially mineralizable carbon, were reported to be strongly correlated over a diversity of soils and management systems. Frequent tillage deteriorates soil structure and weakens soil aggregates, causing them to be susceptible to decay. The mixing of residues/surface retention into the soil increases SOM mineralization due to greater exposure to microbial decomposers and optimal moisture and temperature. Increased efficiency of N fertilizers use can result in reduced carbon footprints of field crops, because the contribution of N fertilizers is 36–52% of total emissions while increased soil C sequestration reduces the carbon footprint, because the input carbon as CO₂ from atmospheric is converted into the plant biomass and eventually deposited to the soil. Decreasing soil tillage integrated with crop residues retention can increases SOC and decreases carbon footprint, and the mixing of key agricultural practices could increase the crop yields, reduce the emissions and carbon footprint respectively.

衡量长期农业耕作方式对土壤有机碳（SOC）的影响对农民和政策制定者至关重要。不同的管理实践主要在土壤表层影响SOC。SOC的不同部分。据报道，总有机碳，颗粒有机碳，土壤微生物生物量碳和潜在的可矿化碳与土壤和管理系统的多样性密切相关。频繁耕作会破坏土壤结构并削弱土壤团聚体，使其易于腐烂。由于更多地暴露于微生物分解剂以及最佳的水分和温度，残留物/表面残留物混合到土壤中会增加SOM矿化作用。氮肥使用效率的提高可以减少田间作物的碳足迹，大气中的₂被转化为植物生物质，并最终沉积到土壤中。减少土壤耕作与作物残留物的结合可以增加土壤有机碳并减少碳足迹，而关键农业实践的结合可以分别提高作物产量，减少排放量和碳足迹。