By Razl Pierri*
Tierramerica/Inter Press Service
August 1, 2008

Montevideo - A simple glass of milk on the breakfast table can carry high
environmental costs. Because of this, some farmers and scientists are
looking for ways to reduce the impacts of agriculture and livestock, which
are responsible for 12 to 14 percent of global emissions of greenhouse
gases.

There are already studies to measure the climate costs of that glass of
milk, or of a country's entire milk production, from raising the cow to the
final product on the table.

The farming sector's emissions of climate change gases grew nearly 17
percent between 1990 and 2005 worldwide, and the biggest increase took place
in the developing South (32 percent).

The intestinal fermentation in ruminant livestock, like cattle, releases
into the atmosphere methane and nitrous oxide, two potent greenhouse gases.
Further emissions come from animal manure and urine, the burning of plant
biomass to clear pastures, rice production and biological and chemical
processes occurring in soil.

The two gases contribute 70 percent of the emissions coming from the
agricultural sector. Methane and nitrous oxide, respectively, have 21 and
300 times more "greenhouse effect" than carbon dioxide, the principal gas
associated with climate change, released primarily by vehicles, industry and
electricity production.

While countries are looking for ways to produce more food and overcome the
current food price crisis, experts from LEARN (Livestock Emission Abatement
Research Network) are studying ways to reduce emissions without undercutting
productivity.

That was the focus of discussion amongst officials and researchers gathered
in Uruguay Jul. 21-24 for the international workshop on agricultural
emissions of greenhouse gases, organised by LEARN. Tierramirica was the only
media outlet present for the technical segment of the meeting.

In Uruguay, agriculture generates 91 percent of the country's methane
emissions. In neighbouring Argentina, farming and ranching are responsible
for 44 percent of national greenhouse emissions.

Because it involves a sector that is very important to countries like
Uruguay, the reduction of emissions must ensure that pasture-raised
livestock continue to eat a natural, chemical-free diet, Luis Santos,
coordinator of Uruguay's Climate Change Unit, told Tierramirica. One option
is to modify the diet of the animals, using varieties of forage that are
less rich in methane, he said.

Pastureland accounts for 26 to 40 percent of the world's productive lands.
And cattle emit 37 percent of the methane and 65 percent of the nitrous
oxide generated by human-led activities. The vast majority of these gases
come from pastures in Latin America and Asia.

Tim Clough, a scientist from New Zealand, noted that the atmospheric
concentration of nitrous oxide continues to rise 0.26 percent annually.
Globally, the nitrous oxide output is dominated by agricultural sources, he
said, stressing the urgent need to reduce these emissions.

The main sources of nitrous oxide in pastures are manure and nitrogen-based
fertilisers. Nitrous oxide is produced in the soil through microbe processes
like nitrification or the conversion of ammonium nitrate, according to
Clough, an expert in soil sciences from Lincoln University in New Zealand.

Clough suggested, as is being done in his country, the use of nitrification
inhibitors, chemical substances added to nitrogen fertilisers (mineral or
organic) or applied directly to the soil, which inhibit the activity of
bacteria.

LEARN was founded last year in New Zealand, and includes representatives
from politics, science and industry from some 40 countries, including
agricultural giants like the United States, Brazil, Australia, India, China
and Argentina.

Its aim is to define methods for measuring, verifying, communicating and
mitigating the production of greenhouse gases from the livestock sector.

"The first objective is, in the context of the Framework Convention on
Climate Change, to determine the factors of emissions in order to carry out
an inventory of greenhouse gases released by the sector," explained Santos.

"The countries of the developing South, according to the Convention, must
adopt measures but are not obligated, like the industrialised countries, to
reduce their emissions. That is why we want to know, for the countries like
New Zealand that do have an obligation, how much they emit and how they are
going to cut emissions," he said.

To that end, a New Zealand Project presented at the meeting demonstrated the
procedures for tracking greenhouse gases in the farming sector. In milk
production, for example, this starts with emissions from the cow itself, to
industrialisation and transport.

(*Originally published by Latin American newspapers that are part of the
Tierramirica network. Tierramirica is a specialised news service produced by
IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Programme, United
Nations Environment Programme and the World Bank.)

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43413

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