Nexus between Nitrous Oxide Emissions and Agricultural Land Use in Agrarian Economy: An ARDL Bounds Testing Approach

Azad Haider,Farzana Shaheen,Muhammad Iftikhar Ul Husnain,Wimal Rankaduwa

doi:10.3390/su13052808

Abstract

This paper analyses the relationship between Nitrous Oxide emissions, agricultural land use, and economic growth in Pakistan. Agriculture largely contributes to Nitrous Oxide emissions. Hence, models of agriculture induced Nitrous Oxide emissions are estimated in addition to models of total Nitrous Oxide emissions. Estimated models accommodate more flexible forms of relationship between economic growth and emissions than those of the widely adopted models in testing the Environmental Kuznets Curve. The Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to co-integration and the vector error correction model approach is applied to test the Environmental Kuznets’s Curve hypothesis for Pakistan and to detect the directions of causality among variables using the time series data for the period 1971 to 2012. Results indicate that an N-shaped rather than an inverted U-shaped relationship exists in the case of Pakistan. The tipping values for total Nitrous Oxide emissions and agriculturally induced Nitrous Oxide emissions indicate that Pakistan passes through a phase of increasing environmental degradation. Increases in agricultural land use and per capita energy use will increase the level of Nitrous Oxide emissions. However, controlling Nitrous Oxide emissions from agricultural land use and per capita, energy use without adversely affecting economic development will be a serious policy challenge for Pakistan.

Highlights

The emissions of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) such as Carbon Dioxide (CO2 ), SulphurDioxide (SO2 ), and Nitrous Oxide (N2 O) have increased significantly in agrarian economies through the extensive adoption of highly intensive production systems in livestock and crop farming [1]
For N2 O emissions in the case of Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries which are mostly the developing countries while Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH) is confirmed for the CO2 emissions which indicates that comparing the results for Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and SSA countries, the results show that trade makes SSA countries relatively dirtier because of the global externality of CO2 emissions
The empirical models of N2 O emissions are derived from the basic model of Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) by incorporating agricultural land used, exports, and energy used as explanatory variables, in addition to gross domestic product (GDP)

Summary

Introduction

Dioxide (SO2 ), and Nitrous Oxide (N2 O) have increased significantly in agrarian economies through the extensive adoption of highly intensive production systems in livestock and crop farming [1]. Among these gasses, the N2 O is currently the leading ozone-depleting element as chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) emissions have been virtually eliminated [2]. About 63% of agriculturally induced N2 O emissions come from the direct use of soils according to Tian et al [5]. Agricultural economies like Pakistan should be more concerned about N2 O emissions especially during the phases of rapid economic

Objectives

Results

Conclusion