Agriculture Sector GHG Inventory: Issues and Concerns for India

Sumana Bhattacharya10th February 2005Shanghai, China

National Emissions - 1994

743820

Sectoral Distribution of Emissions

Agriculture28%

Industrial Processes

8%

Waste2%

LULUCF1%

Energy61%

Energy85%

Industrial Process

13%

LULUCF2%

Agri84%

Energy7%

waste4%

Ind. Proc.

5% N2O

CH4All energy

16%

Waste

6%

Agriculture 78%

CO2

Gas by Gas distribution across sectors

• Many activity data gaps exist, especially for reporting as per 17/CP.8, requiring major national efforts

• Procedures of reporting and collecting data for future inventories need to be established – reliability, coverage, and availability

• Sample size need to be enlarged for many categories to capture regional diversity in emission coefficients

Key lessons

Ministry of Environment and Forests

Project Management Cell

Steering Committee Technical Advisory

Institutional Arrangement

Inventory UR

Sectoral emissions- Agriculture

Enteric Fermentation

55%Rice

Cultuvation25%

Soils13%

Crop resid.1%

Manure6%

GHG Emission Distribution- Agriculture

Key sectors

1. Enteric fermentation

2. Rice Cultivation

3. Soils

Uncertainty Reduction Efforts

Rice Cultivation

Enteric fermentation

Percentage of the total National CO2

equivalent emissions

Percentage of total CO2 eq.

emissions from Agriculture sector

Tier used in the Initial NATCOM

Type of emission factor used

Agriculture sector

Enteric Fermentation 15.3 54.7 Tier III I

Rice Cultivation 7.0 24.9 Tier III I

Emission from Soils 3.7 13.1 Tier I D

Manure Management 1.6 5.9 Tier I D

Agricultural crop residue 0.4 1.4 Tier I D

Status of Preparation GHG inventory – Agriculture

I: Indigenously developed, D: IPCC Default Emission factors

Status of Preparation GHG inventory – Agriculture

Typicality's of Agriculture Sector in India

Livestock

80% indigenous low producing, non-descriptive with low feed req.- population going down

Crossbred increasing

Total population is projected to decrease

Manure not collected systematically

Rice cultivation

Total area almost constant over the years, Area under rainfed fluctuates

Not much cultivation on organic soils

Typicality's of Agriculture Sector in India

Crop Residue

Crop residue mostly used as fuel

Burnt on fields at few places

Soils

Diverse agriculture soils and management practices

Pattern and amount of fertilizer applied varies across regions

No quantification yet of application of organic fertilizers

Key lessons – Agriculture sector

Methane and nitrous oxide emissions emitted from the agriculture sector come from dispersed sources and hence are more uncertain w.r.t those from energy sources

Therefore procedures of reporting and collecting activity data for future inventories need to be established for improving their reliability, coverage, and availability

Sample sizes of measurements need to be enlarged for many categories to capture regional diversity in emission coefficients

Many activity data gaps exist, especially for estimating N2O from soils

Enteric Fermentation Data gathered on:

Livestock statistics Survey undertaken every 5 years (1987,1992, 1997,2003) Interpolation necessary- Identification and categorization of livestock species

Milk ProductionSame method

Body weight

Body weights of the indigenous cattle (constituting 80% of total population not well documented) not well documented

Feed IntakeBased on DMI - literature survey, regional variation exists in the type of feed.

Extensive survey necessary

Methane Conversion FactorData on methane from % of gross energy converted /dry matter intake confined to

higher bred

Body weights - published reports

BW of non-descript cattle taken 20% less than well-described breed.

DMI as percentage of body weight based on literature survey and expert judgment.

Feed intake in terms of kg DMI/100 kg livestock body weight / day is estimated.

Methane conversion factor in g CH4/kg DMI from published reports and dry matter intake of animals.

Aggregate national emission factor

Activity Data based Measurement based

Few CH4 measurements made for cross bred cattle using face

mask - SF6 technology

Sample size, statistically not adequate, all cattle types not covered. CH4 emission varies with temp. Therefore extensive measurements at all climate regions requires covering both indigenous and cross bred cattle.

Direct measurements - Enteric Fermentation

CH4 emission coefficient determined from cattle and buffalo

Manure Management

Based on animal population statistics and IPCC default emission factors

Three aspects to be noted

Manure is not systematically collected

Where it is collected, it is

- dried as dung cakes and used as fuel

- collected for bio gas plants for CH4 use as energy

Therefore over estimation in the 1st communication

Rice Cultivation

Govt. reports on rice harvest area under cultivation are in terms of

irrigated

rainfed

Distribution of harvest area according to IPCC in India made based on area under various soil types and type of water management

Data on application of Organic Carbon not available

Emission factors for all rice ecosystems not statistically significant

Measurements of CH4 flux vs. different rice cultivars are minimal

CH4 emission measurements from rice cultivation

Chamber Box technique – samples collected and analysed using Gas chromatography

Based on extensive measurements carried out between 1991 and 2002 for different cultivars

Inter comparison of samples with national & international standards

Measurements made over the entire cropping season for different water regimes

Classification of areas under various water regimes based on soil characteristics

Onsite CH4 measurement

Emission Coefficient – Rice cultivation

Crop Residue

Activity data is crop production based

Residue to crop ratio determined so far only for selected crops

Extensive surveys required to estimate the Fraction left on field for burning – now based on expert judgement

Dry matter fraction needs to be studied further in terms of crop produced, irrigation practices, and other farming practices

Emission factors of CO, CH4, NOx, NMVOC – Inadequate measurements

Emission from soils

N2O emissions data requirements:

Synthetic fertilizer – fraction of nitrogen that volatilizes as NH3 and NOx from applied synthetic fertilizer needs to be country specific,

including factors due to leaching & runoff

Application of animal manure

Data on Incorporation of crop residue in soils

Distribution of organic soils

Disposal of sewage/effluents

Extensive direct measurements to be made on all agricultural soils for all cropping systems