Soil Health Assessment of Land Under Bioenergy Crop.

The global demand for bioenergy crop such as Miscanthus has significantly increased. Because it has the potential to have a high yield, mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by replacing the fossil fuels and thought carbon (C) sequestration into the soils, and improve the soil quality. Miscanthus spp. is a C₄ perennial rhizomes grass and it requires a few agricultural managements and zero fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticide application. Soil health index is a tool for assessing the impacts of land use and soil management practices in agroecosystems. Therefore, the objective of this study was to demonstrate soil health index at Miscanthus fields in Northern Japan. In particular, we investigated (1) to quantify the impact on land use changes including Miscanthus, pasture, and arable land on soil health index.