Abstract
Meat and eggs produced by chickens represent an important economic resource in many economies. In future, global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by chickens will increase due to greater food demand. This study analyses the GHG emissions of chickens and identifies sustainable policy strategies for production intensification and GHG reduction. It advances beyond previous studies by combining GHG reduction and improving meat and egg production rather than reporting mitigation options only, and can thus provide low-emission pathways. The contemporaneous intensification of chicken production and GHG emission reduction are feasible for broiler, layer and backyard chickens in Moldova. For farmers, this important goal can be achieved by using feeds of good quality and high digestibility. An efficient utilization of feeds for backyard chickens (by a dietary replacement of 10% dry matter (DM) intake of fresh grass with 10% DM intake of barley) had the effect of reducing the total emissions to 78179, 79682 and 81238 tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent/year (t CO2-eq/year), increasing meat production to 2376, 2422 and 2469 t carcass weight/year and increasing egg production (in shell) to 47846, 48793, and 49741 t eggs/year with an increase of chickens of 2%, 6% and 10% per year, respectively. Policymakers can do a great deal to support the abatement of chicken emissions by developing long-term strategies, and regulations that are aimed towards mitigation targets and technologies. To effectively maximize emission reduction and increase production, however, policymakers must overcome the existing national barriers.Keywords: feed, greenhouse gas, manure, mitigation, policy
Highlights
In 2030 the human population in the world will be more than twice that of the population in 1975
BRO was responsible for the highest feed emission of NO2 from fertilizer and crop residues (0.014 Mt carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2-eq)/year), feed production (0.046 Mt carbon dioxide (CO2)-eq/year) and manure 0.004 Mt CO2-eq/year
The total meat and protein produced by the three groups were 96186.7 t carcass weight (CW)/year and 13706.5 t protein/year
Summary
In 2030 the human population in the world will be more than twice that of the population in 1975. The number of chickens raised for meat and egg production throughout the world will increase from 27 billion in 2030 to 34 billion in 2050, and emissions will follow the same trend, with an increase from 31.2 Mt CO2-eq in 2030 to 37.1 Mt CO2-eq in 2050. More than 160 countries have ratified the Paris Agreement to reduce GHG emissions and to keep the global temperature rise this century below 2 oC (Strielkowski et al, 2016; Fellmann et al, 2018). This affects all sectors of human activities, including the poultry sector, which will be challenged to meet production needs while controlling GHG emissions. In 2030 and 2050 the numbers of chickens (layers and broilers) produced in the country will be 31.5 million and 43.5 million, respectively, and the GHG emissions (only from manure management) in the same period will be 0.064 Mt CO2-eq to 0.077 Mt CO2-eq, respectively (FAO, 2017)
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