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BENGALURU, India (AP) — Abinaya Tamilarasu mentioned her 4 cows are a part of the household. She has a level in commerce from a neighborhood faculty, however prefers being house milking cows and tending to her household’s land.
“Our family cannot let farming go, it’s a way of life for us,” mentioned the 28-year-old, who lives on her household farm in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state. Even when she could possibly be making more cash elsewhere, she mentioned she’s “still happy we have our cows.”
India is the world’s largest milk producer, and is house to 80 million dairy farmers who made 231 million tons of milk final yr. Many farmers, like Tamilarasu, solely have a number of cows, however the trade as a complete has 303 million bovine cattle like cows and buffalo, making it the most important contributor to planet-warming methane emissions within the nation. The federal authorities has made some optimistic steps to scale back methane, however needs to focus emissions cuts elsewhere, like by moving to renewable energy, saying most methane emissions are a truth of life. But consultants say the trade can and will make extra reductions that may rapidly limit warming.
India is the third largest emitter of methane on this planet, in keeping with figures revealed earlier this month by the International Energy Agency, and livestock are chargeable for about 48% of all methane emissions in India, the overwhelming majority from cattle. Methane is a potent planet-warming gas that may lure greater than 80 occasions extra warmth within the environment within the quick time period than carbon dioxide.
The Indian authorities has not joined any international pledges to chop methane emissions, which many see as low-hanging fruit for climate solutions, as methane emissions solely final within the environment for a few dozen years, in comparison with CO2 that may linger for a few hundred years.
But there’s some work on methane discount in agriculture on the nationwide stage: The authorities’s National Dairy Development Board, which works with over 17 million farmers throughout the nation, is trying into genetic enchancment packages to supply extra nutritious feed to livestock which might make cows extra productive, which means every farmer would want fewer cows to provide the identical quantity of milk. Studies by the NDDB present that emissions are decreased by as a lot as 15% when a balanced weight loss program is supplied to the animals.
The board can be trying into lowering crop burning, a high-emitting follow that some farmers use to clear their lands, by feeding these crops to cows.
“Climate-smart dairying is the need of the hour,” mentioned Meenesh Shah, the board’s chairman.
Vineet Kumar, from the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, agreed that good high quality feed may also help decrease emissions. He additionally mentioned encouraging extra native breeds that emit much less may also help. “These solutions can be a win-win for everyone,” he mentioned.
But Thanammal Ravichandran, a veterinarian primarily based within the southern Indian metropolis of Coimbatore, famous that there’s at the moment a scarcity of feed in India, so farmers give their cattle no matter they’ll, which is usually decrease high quality and better emitting.
“Farmers are also not able to invest in better quality feed for their cattle,” she mentioned. To get higher, and extra inexpensive feed, dairy farmers want extra authorities assist, she mentioned.
Whatever measures are taken to scale back methane emissions, consultants word that it ought to have minimal impression on farmers’ livelihoods, and will account for the methods folks elevate their livestock.
“Livestock have been closely integrated within the Indian farming system,” mentioned Kumar, which means any drastic adjustments to farming strategies would have extreme results on farmers. He added that efforts to scale back emissions shouldn’t cut back the usage of cow manure as fertilizer on India’s farms, as chemical fertilizers emit nitrous oxide, an much more potent greenhouse gasoline.
But taking a look at India’s methane emissions as a complete might present some extra apparent options to slashing the gasoline, mentioned Bandish Patel, an vitality analyst on the local weather thinktank Ember. Focusing on the energy sector is a simple win for focused discount of methane emissions, he mentioned.
“You look at agriculture, those emissions are very dispersed in nature, whereas, with oil, gas and coal mining, there are very pointed sources from which you can basically reduce methane going forward,” he mentioned.
Shah from the NDDB added that India’s excessive agricultural emissions have to be thought-about within the context of the nation being house to the world’s largest cattle inhabitants, the most important producer of milk, and the most important rice exporter, as rice manufacturing additionally produces vital methane emissions.
“In this light, India’s agriculture sector emissions must be considered significantly low,” Shah mentioned. Because of its massive inhabitants, India’s per capita emissions are nicely beneath common.
For dairy farmers like Tamilarasu, higher welfare for her cows and packages for farmers to have higher practices are welcome, however she gained’t be leaving her cows for the local weather any time quickly. She plans to proceed dairy farming for the foreseeable future.
“The way we see it, our cows and us support each other. If we can make their lives better, they will make ours better too,” she mentioned.
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Follow Sibi Arasu on X at @sibi123
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