Mitigation strategies to enhance carbon sink potential in climate vulnerable districts of Eastern India

Abstract

As per the commitment of COP-21, reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under various production systems without affecting productivity is one of the important challenges in addressing global warming. To address this, environmentally and economically efficient climate resilient management practices were identified under the National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) project and were implemented in the sixteen study villages of four districts of Eastern India. In this study, the GHG emissions in terms of C balance in tCO2eq due to the adoption of climate resilient practices in agriculture, livestock and forestry were estimated using the EX-ACT model that was developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN). EX-ACT tool was found to be an user-friendly and easy tool to assess the C balance in small areas with diverse climate and soil types. The findings of this study reveal that there is a sink due to the adoption of mitigation strategies (climate resilient management practices) in annuals, perennials and afforestration, while a source (emissions) was observed in irrigated rice, land use change and fertilizer use (inputs). When all the components were considered instead of a single component, the overall C balance in the study villages was found negative, suggesting a sink.