Measurement of Greenhouse Gas Emission from Crop, Livestock and Aquaculture

Abstract

Global warming, caused by the increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere, has emerged as the most prominent global environmental issue. These GHGs i.e., carbon dioxide (CO2 ), methane (CH4 ) and nitrous oxide (N2 O) trap the outgoing infrared radiation from the earth’s surface and thus raise the temperature. The global mean annual temperatures at the end of the 20th century, as a result of GHG accumulation in the atmosphere, has increased by 0.4–0.76 o C above that recorded at the end of the 19th century (IPCC 2007). The last 50 years show an increasing trend of 0.13 °C/decade whereas the trend of the last one and half decades has been much higher. The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2007) projected a temperature increase between 1.1 and 6.4 °C by the end of the 21st Century. Global warming also leads to other regional and global changes in climate-related parameters such as rainfall, soil moisture and sea level. Global climatic changes can affect agriculture through their direct and indirect effects on the crops, soils, livestock and pests. An increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide level will have a fertilization effect on crops with C3 photosynthetic pathway and thus will promote their growth and productivity. The increase in temperature, depending upon the current ambient temperature, can reduce crop duration, increase crop respiration rates, alter photosynthate partitioning to economic products, affect the survival and distribution of pest populations, hasten nutrient mineralization in soils, decrease fertilizer-use efficiencies, and increase evapo-transpiration rate. Indirectly, there may be considerable effects on land use due to snow melt, availability of irrigation water, frequency and intensity of inter- and intra-seasonal droughts and floods, soil organic matter transformations, soil erosion, changes in pest profiles, decline in arable areas due to submergence of coastal lands, and availability of energy. Therefore, concerted efforts are required for mitigation and adaptation to reduce the vulnerability of 2 Indian agriculture to the adverse impacts of climate change and making it more resilient.