Greenhouse gases emission from livestock production system of India: An actual consumption approach

Abstract

The present study was undertaken to quantify methane emission from livestock production system in India. The computational results showed that the total methane emission from the livestock production system at 2012 population base was 12.28 million tonne. In the total methane emission from enteric fermentation, share of cattle is marginally lower (60%) than its share in the bovine population (64%) while the share of buffalo (40%) is marginally higher than its share in the population (36%). Cattle adult male account for more than 35% of the emission while buffalo in-milk accounts for little more than 46.7% of the emission. Methane emission from manure management for 2012 livestock population was estimated to be 0.20 million tonne. Other livestock like goat, sheep, camel and horses emit around 7.5% of total methane emission from both the sources. The estimates of methane emission from Indian livestock will help the policy makers and environmentalist of the country in designing mitigation strategies.