Pravash Chandra MoharanaRoll No. 9905
Division of Soil Science & Agricultural ChemistryIndian Agricultural Research Institute
New Delhi-110 012
Contents
As any other industrial process, food production system also contributes to
Depletion of natural resourcesEnvironment pollution, andClimate change
Introduction
Environmental Impacts of Agricultural Activities
Emission of GHG (CO2 equivalent emissions) from different Agriculture sector (million tonnes)
INCCA, 2010
Mil
lio
n t
on
nes
Greenhouse gases emission in ecosystems
IPCC, 2006
Increasing the agricultural production to
feed ever-growing population
Increasing the agricultural production to
feed ever-growing population
Reduction of GHG emission for climate change mitigation in
compliance with the international treaty or obligation
Reduction of GHG emission for climate change mitigation in
compliance with the international treaty or obligation
Major challenges
Need of hour...
Understanding of the mitigation potential and developing low carbon practices in agriculture. For this purpose great efforts have been given worldwide to quantifying the Carbon Footprint of agricultural production which requires an understanding of the Life Cycle of a product
(Wiltshire et al., 2008)
Carbon footprint (CF) is a measure of the exclusive total amount of
carbon dioxide emissions that is directly and indirectly caused by
an activity or is accumulated over the life stages of a product
(Wiedmann and Minx, 2007)
Carbon footprint (CF) is a measure of the exclusive total amount of
carbon dioxide emissions that is directly and indirectly caused by
an activity or is accumulated over the life stages of a product
(Wiedmann and Minx, 2007)
CF is a measure of the exclusive total amount of GHGs emission in
carbon equivalent (CE) that is directly and indirectly caused by an
individual, organization, process, product, or event over entire
lifecycle or within a specified boundary
(Dubey and Lal, 2009; Pandey et al., 2011)
CF is a measure of the exclusive total amount of GHGs emission in
carbon equivalent (CE) that is directly and indirectly caused by an
individual, organization, process, product, or event over entire
lifecycle or within a specified boundary
(Dubey and Lal, 2009; Pandey et al., 2011)
What is Carbon Footprint ??
Why work out a carbon footprint?
Carbon footprint, being a quantitative expression of GHG emissions from an activity helps in
Emission management and evaluation of mitigation measures
Identification of important sources of emissions in entire life period
Prioritization of areas of emission reductions and increasing efficiencies
Provides the opportunity for environmental efficiencies and cost reductions
Useful for respond to legislative requirements, or carbon trading or as a part of corporate social responsibility, or for improving the brand’s image
Pandey et al., 2011
Per capita carbon footprint
Per capita carbon footprint in different classes on countries based on degree of development (based on UNDP 2007)
UNDP, 2007; Pandey et al., 2011
1. Defining Goal and Scope: Select product or activityDefine purpose of studyFix boundaries accordingly
2. Inventory Analysis: Identify all relevant inputs and outputsQuantify GHGs (At this stage, data are in terms of energy
consumed, emission amounts, etc.)
3. Impact Analysis: Determine the resulting environmental impacts (At this stage, the
previous data are translated in different impact)
4. Interpretation / Improvement Analysis: Use value for judgment to assess and/or in relation to the objectives
of the study
Steps of C footprint
Fertilizer productionPesticide and other chemical production
Seed productionFuel productionTransportation
Pre farm
Field preparations (tillage, harrowing, puddling etc)Seed treatment and sowing
Fertilizer and manure applicationPesticide application
IrrigationWeeding
Other intercultural operations Harvesting
Crop residue burningDrying
ThreshingWinnowing
Storage
On farm
TransportationDistribution
ConsumptionWaste
Post farm
Defining activities in Crop production
Grain Straw GHG (CO2,
CH4, N2O) Water loss
(evaporation, percolation, runoff)
Nutrient loss (volatilization, leaching, runoff, adsorption)
Electricity
Diesel
Seed
Water
Fertilizers
Pesticides
labors
Transportation Field preparations
(tillage, harrowing) Seed treatment and
sowing Fertilizer and manure
application Pesticide application Irrigation Weeding Intercultural
operations, harvesting
Threshing Winnowing Storage
Food and feed safety
Global warming/climate change
Ozone layer depletion
Acid rain Soil and
water pollution
Eutrophica-tion
INPUT ACTIVITIES OUT PUT IMPACT
Inventory Analysis of Agriculture
Carbon Cost of input = Agricultural Input × Emission Factor
a. From production and transportation of off farm input NPK-fertilizers, pesticide or other chemical, diesel, electricity, etc.
1. Quantification of green house gas emission in CO2 - eq
Carbon foot print calculation
Cheng et al., 2011
Carbon cost represents the GHGs emission induced by certain agricultural input (in tCE)
Carbon cost of direct N2O emission (CFN) from chemical N fertilizer application
CFN=FN×δN×(44/28)×298× (12/44)
Where, FN= quantity of N fertilizer δN= emission factor of N2O
2. Total Carbon footprint of crop production
CFt = CFF + CFN + CFp + CFIR + CFPF + CFD
where,
CFF= Individual carbon costs from inputs fertilizers
CFN = direct N2O from N fertilizer applied
CFp = pesticides
CFIR = irrigation
CFPF = plastic films
CFD = mechanical performanceCheng et al., 2011
Emission factors of agriculture inputs
Carbon footprint For crop production
GHG emission from corn productionInputs of corn production System
Inputs Corn
Fertilizer (kg)
N 145
P2O5 51
K2O 65
Sulphur 4.2
Lime 321
Energy
Diesel (L) 43.0
Gas (L) 11.2
LPG (L) 67.3
Elect. (kwh) 41.5
Herb/Pesticides (kg) 2.8
Seed (kg) 216 Environmental Working Group, 2011
GHG emission from soybean and Alfalfa production
Soybean
Alfalfa
Environmental Working Group, 2011
Carbon dioxide emissions due to the production of different farm inputs and operations
Carbon footprint of winter wheat
Mechanical operations
Carbon cost (kg CE h-1) Winter wheat Total
Soil preparation
Ploughing 15.2 1 15.2
Harrowing 1.7 1 1.7
Combo drilling 3.2 1 3.2
Rolling 1.7 1 1.7
Sub soiling 11.3 1 11.3
Product application
Fertilizer spraying 0.9 3 2.7
Pesticide spraying 1.4 4 5.6
Removal
Carbon cost (kg CE h-1) Winter wheat
Harvesting Combining 33.6 0.5 16.6
Carting 1.44 1.05 1.5
Baling 19.3 0.4 8.1
Hillier et al., 2009
Additions
C cost per kgapplied (kg CE kg-1 a.i.)
Winter wheat
Total
Fertilizer
N 2.96 215 638.2
P 0.20 142 28.4
K 0.15 194 29.1
Crop protection Herbicide 6.30 1 6.30
Insecticide 0.36 1 0.36
Fungicide/nematicide 3.16 2 6.32
Total Carbon foot print of winter wheat cost (kg CE ha-1) 764.9
Carbon foot print of winter wheat (cont..)
Hillier et al., 2009
Carbon footprint of Conservation Agriculture
Tillage Irrigation
S1-Conventional practice S2- Zero tillage in wheat (November – April), puddled transplanted rice (rainy season) and cover crop (summer season) S3- Conservation agriculture practices (zero tillage rice and wheat, zero tillage cowpea )S4- Intensification of cropping system (direct seeded rice in the rainy season, potato and maize in winter and cowpea as relay cropping in summer ) Laik et al., 2011
Tillage practice = diesel consumed CO2emission (3.15 kg L-1)Irrigation = electricity consumed (kwh) CO2emission (1000 g kwh-1)
Eq
uiv
alen
t C
O2(
kg h
a-1)
Equivalent CO2(kg ha-1) required for tillage and irrigation in rice production
Tillage Irrigation
S1-conventional practice S2- zero tillage in wheat (November – April), Puddled transplanted rice (rainy season) and cover crop (summer season) S3- Conservation agriculture practices (zero tillage rice and wheat, zero tillage cowpea )S4- Intensification of cropping system (direct seeded rice in the rainy season, potato and maize in winter and cowpea as relay cropping in summer )
Laik et al., 2011
Tillage practice=diesel consumed CO2emission(3.15kg per litre)Irrigation=electricity consumed (kwh) CO2emission(1000g per kwh)
Eq
uiv
alen
t C
O2(
kg h
a-1)
Equivalent CO2(kg ha-1) required for tillage and irrigation in wheat production
Carbon footprint of Conservation Agriculture
Trends in C-based inputs and outputs in Indian agriculture
Dubey and Lal , 2009 ; Maheswarappa et al. 2011
Trends in C-based inputs and outputs in Punjab
Total C output (Mt) of different crops in India
Crops 1960–61 1970–71 1980–81 1990–91 2000–01 2008–09Rice 27.66 33.77 42.90 59.43 67.98 79.32
Wheat 11.00 23.83 36.31 55.14 69.68 80.58
Coarse cereals
23.74 30.55 29.02 32.70 31.08 39.48
Pulses 16.93 15.76 14.17 19.01 14.76 19.55
Oilseeds 9.31 12.84 12.49 24.81 24.59 37.55
Sugarcane 162.96 187.21 228.52 357.11 438.46 401.85
Cotton 1.28 1.08 1.78 2.23 2.16 5.25
Hort. Crops NA NA NA 38.62 38.62 85.89
Maheswarappa et al., 2011
Carbon sustainability index and total production in Indian agriculture
Maheswarappa et al. 2011
Carbon foot print of different crops
Hillier et al., 2009
Total carbon footprint of different farming operations
Hillier et al., 2009
Emission of greenhouse gases in various stages of life cycle and carbon footprint of food items
Pathak et al., 2010
Pathak et al., 2010
Emission of greenhouse gases per calorie food consumption and their emission intensity
Relative contribution of greenhouse gases and stages of life
cycle of Indian food items towards global warming
GHGs Lifecycle stages
Pathak et al., 2010
Relative contribution of various food items to GHG emission in balanced vegetarian and non-vegetarian diets
Pathak et al., 2010
Why Nitrogen Foot print is so Important?
To feed our growing population, humans have disrupted the delicately balanced natural nitrogen cycle. The turning point came in 1909, when Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch figured out how to combine hydrogen with N2 to create ammonia, which was used to produce fertilizer. The use of synthetic fertilizer has vastly increased agricultural yields around the world. Today, the International Nitrogen Initiative estimates that 40% of the global population is dependent on crops fertilized with reactive nitrogen.
A study by University of Virginia environmental scientist James Galloway and colleagues reported that from 1970 to 2008, world population increased by 78% and reactive nitrogen creation grew 120%. Human have introduced additional reactive nitrogen into the environment by expanding the production of soybeans, peanuts and alfalfa, (leguminous) crops which host nitrogen-fixing bacteria that convert N2 into reactive nitrogen.
Global N2O flux
IPCC, 2007
Problems of reactive nitrogen
Air pollution produced by nitrogen gases (nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide).
Acid deposition by nitrogen oxide. Eutrophication because of high nitrate in aquatic ecosystems. Loss of biological diversity, especially losses of plants adapted to
efficient use of N. Methemoglobinemia in infants because of increased nitrate ions
in water and food. Global warming because of increased emission of nitrous oxide,
a potent greenhouse gas. Depletion of stratospheric ozone by nitrous oxide.
N-PRINT will be able to describe how Nr is lost to the environment and its resulting impacts due to individual (consumer) and collective (producers and society) consumption behaviour and the ways in which policy can have an effect on these losses (Leach et al., 2012).
What is N foot print
N foot print minimize the negative effects of nitrogen on human health and the environment and optimize the beneficial role of nitrogen in sustainable food production
Average per capita country Nitrogen footprints
Leach et al., 2012
Calculation schematic for Nitrogen footprint for food
Leach et al., 2012
N footprint of Food crop production
Farm machinery and products manufacture
Crop production
Combustion
Storage
Transportation
Cleaning residueMethodology to calculate
Nitrogen Footprinthttp://www.n-print.org
1) The colored boxes show the available Nr at each stage of the food production process, with their areas reflecting the magnitude of Nr;
2) The black arrows show the Nr that makes it to the next stage; 3) The start of the grey arrows is the total Nr wasted, and the end of the grey arrows is the
Nr lost to the environment; 4) The dotted arrows show the Nr recycled, which is subtracted from the Nr wasted to find
the Nr lost to the environment; and 5) The diagrams show the summation of multiple iterations of the calculations; the
iterations determine how recycled Nr is distributed throughout the system.
Nitrogen flow in the corn production process
Leach et al., 2012
Reduction of C and N foot print
(i) Mitigation of GHG emissions (ii) Increasing C sequestration (iii) Combination of mitigation and increasing C
sequestration
Recommended practices C sequestration potential(Mg C ha-1 yr-1)
Conservation tillage 0.10-0.40
Winter cover crop 0.05-0.20
Soil fertility management 0.05-0.10
Elimination of summer fallow 0.05-0.20
Forages based rotation 0.05-0.20
Use of improved varieties 0.05-0.10
Organic amendments 0.20-0.30
Recommended Management Practices for reducing C footprint
Lal et al., 1998
Cumulative GHG emissions over 33 years in conventional till versus no-till cereal cropping system
Wang and Dalal, 2005
Reduction of N footprint
Apply fertilizer N at optimum rates
Apply fertilizer N at the rate and time to meet crop/pasture
needs and development stage
Use cover crops to utilise the residual mineral N
Practice good crop/pasture /soil management
Avoid surface application
Fertilizer may be formulated with urease and/or nitrification
inhibitors
Fertilizers form
ConclusionsAgriculture sector contributes significantly to global carbon
emissions from diverse sources such as product and machinery manufacture, transport of materials and direct and indirect soil greenhouse gas emissions.
Carbon foot print estimates of emissions for individual farm operations to quantify the relative contribution of a range of farming operations and different crops.
Carbon and Nitrogen footprint helps growers, advisors and policy makers to make informed decisions about management to optimize crop production, biodiversity and carbon footprint.
N footprints help reduce Nr losses to the environment.
Future steps
In India, Carbon and Nitrogen footprint of different cropping systems—rice-wheat, rice-rice, rice-other crops, potato-other crops, sugarcane, plantations, dry land cropping systems, animal production systems, poultry industry, etc. need to be quantified
Development of suitable model for calculation of C and N footprint, prediction and management of GHGs
Research need for climate change and its impact on agriculture