Impact of Ruminants on Global Warming: Indian and Global Context

Abstract

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), agriculture is responsible for 18 % of the total release of greenhouse gases worldwide and among this emissions from livestock constitute nearly 80 % of all agricultural emissions. Indian poor peoples’ economy is based on his livestock which is mostly ruminants as a source of meat, milk, wool, etc. Ruminants produce a huge quantity of the greenhouse gases which significantly contributes to global warming namely, carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O), etc. On an average, a cow produces around 70–120 kg CH₄ per year which is 23 times more potent factor to climate change than that of CO₂. So, 100 kg CH₄ is as potent as 2300 kg CO₂ as a greenhouse gas. So, as a whole, ruminants in world emit about two billion metric tonnes of CO₂ equivalents of methane per year and 2.8 billion metric tonnes of CO₂ per year due to grazing and grazing land related issues like deforestation. 70 % forests in the Amazon is been converted to grazing land. Climate change affects the animal husbandry in India by affecting the dairy, meat and wool production and thus has severe consequences to Indian economy. For an instance, heat stress can reduce the feed intake causing reduction in growth, fertility and reproduction. Water shortage and drought causes reduction in productivity of animal. Again, flood and irregular rain cause life threatening loses to the farmers. Along with this, change in the environment predisposes to vector-borne diseases and parasites. Responses to climate change include adaptation to reduce the vulnerability to climatic changes and mitigation to reduce this change. Climate change can be controlled by either by adaptation to the ecosystem or mitigation (to reduce the level of emission of gases) measures but both are necessary to get an effective result.