Abstract
Livestock farming has great importance in the Brazilian economic scenario, developed in all states and ecosystems of the country, and the Brazilian sector presents a wide range of production systems. Brazilian beef production is mainly from pasture production systems, with Brazil having an area of 180 million hectares of pasture, where more than half of this total presents some degree of soil degradation and pasture, mainly in stages advanced. The emission of methane by ruminants accounts for 22% of this gas in the atmosphere, making it the third largest source on a global scale. Methane gas (CH4) has a significant participation of 15% in global warming, but Brazil has a great potential to reduce the emission of methane gas by improving the productivity indexes of its livestock. Improvements in animal feeding and genetics result in less CH4 emission during the animal's life cycle. In addition, these improvements result in increased meat production resulting in a double benefit: the environmental and the economic. CH4 is considered to be the second largest contributor to the earth's heating by absorbing infrared radiation into atmosphere behind only carbon dioxide (CO2). The increase in its concentration in the atmosphere is closely linked to the worldwide expansion of the human population, since the main sources of emissions, besides enteric fermentation are landfills, fossil fuel use and agricultural practices. Thus, the objective of this review was to present the scientific literature about the production of methane bound to ruminants and to design modulatory mechanisms that allow the production of these animals with high production levels and low emission of this gas.
Highlights
Livestock farming has great importance in the Brazilian economic scenario, developed in all states and ecosystems of the country, and the Brazilian sector presents a wide range of production systems
The increase in its concentration in the atmosphere is closely linked to the worldwide expansion of the human population, since the main sources of emissions, besides enteric fermentation are landfills, fossil fuel use and agricultural practices
The objective of this review was to present the scientific literature about the production of methane bound to ruminants and to design modulatory mechanisms that allow the production of these animals with high production levels and low emission of this gas
Summary
O efeito estufa é um mecanismo natural que ajuda mantém a temperatura do planeta entre 14 a 16oC (Ramírez-Restrepo et al, 2016). Este mantém a concentração baixa de hidrogênio no rúmen, o que permite às bactérias metanogênicas promover o crescimento de outras espécies bacterianas e prover uma fermentação mais eficiente. Quando a emissão de CH4 por unidade de alimento ingerido (MJ de metano/100MJ de energia bruta ingerida) é contrastada com o consumo de MS, encontra-se uma moderada correlação negativa (r = 0.597), indicando que com o aumento percentual do consumo a energia perdida como CH4 diminui. Isso sugere que para uma eficiente produção animal e redução das emissões de CH4 serem vantajosas, a alimentação dos animais deve ser acima da ingestão de manutenção (Zotti & Paulino, 2009). Sabe-se que do metano produzido pela fermentação entérica no rúmen, 95% é liberado para o ambiente por eructação e apenas 5% pelo ânus (Johnson & Johnson, 1995; Pinares-Patiño et al, 2007). Pastagens quando bem manejadas podem minimizar a emissão de metano além de sequestrar carbono
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