Abstract
Agriculture is a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally.
The growing global population is putting pressure on agricultural
production systems that aim to secure food production while minimising
GHG emissions. In this study, the GHG emissions associated with the
production of major food commodities in India are calculated using the
Cool Farm Tool. GHG emissions, based on farm management for major crops
(including cereals like wheat and rice, pulses, potatoes, fruits and
vegetables) and livestock-based products (milk, eggs, chicken and mutton
meat), are quantified and compared. Livestock and rice production were
found to be the main sources of GHG emissions in Indian agriculture with
a country average of 5.65 kg CO2eq kg-1 rice, 45.54 kg CO2eq kg-1 mutton
meat and 2.4 kg CO2eq kg-1 milk. Production of cereals (except rice),
fruits and vegetables in India emits comparatively less GHGs with <1 kg
CO2eq kg-1 product. These findings suggest that a shift towards dietary
patterns with greater consumption of animal source foods could greatly
increase GHG emissions from Indian agriculture. A range of mitigation
options are available that could reduce emissions from current levels and
may be compatible with increased future food production and consumption
demands in India.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 234-241 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment |
Volume | 237 |
Early online date | 7 Jan 2017 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 16 Jan 2017 |
Bibliographical note
AcknowledgementsThe study is part of the Sustainable and Healthy Diets in India (SAHDI) project funded by the Wellcome Trust under the ‘Our Planet, Our Health’ programme (Grant number 103932) and the India Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Study led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and funded by the Climate Change, Agricultural and Food Security (CCAFS) programme of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The work also contributes to the Belmont Forum/FACCE-JPI-funded DEVIL project (via UK NERC project (NE/M021327/1). We thank Drs Paresh B. Shirsath and Hanuman S. Jat of CIMMYT for their expert opinion and help during data collection.
Keywords
- agriculture
- Cool farm tool
- greenhouse gas emissions
- Indian diets
- sustainability
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Making the link: environmental sustainability and dietary guidelines
Jennie Macdiarmid (Coordinator), Heine Richard De Ruiter (Participant) & Pete Smith (Participant)
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