Enteric Methane Emissions of Dairy Cattle Considering Breed Composition, Pasture Management, Housing Conditions and Feeding Characteristics along a Rural-Urban Gradient in a Rising Megacity

Ana Pinto, Tong Yin, Marion Reichenbach, Raghavendra Bhatta, Pradeep Kumar Malik, Eva Schlecht and Sven König
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Ana Pinto: Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Ludwigstraße 21 b, 35390 Gießen, Germany
Tong Yin: Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Ludwigstraße 21 b, 35390 Gießen, Germany
Marion Reichenbach: Group Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Kassel, Steinstrasse 19, 37213 Witzenhausen and Georg-August-University Göttingen, Albrecht-Thaer-Weg 3, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
Raghavendra Bhatta: National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology (NIANP), Hosur Rd, Chennakeshava Nagar, Adugodi, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560030, India
Pradeep Kumar Malik: National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology (NIANP), Hosur Rd, Chennakeshava Nagar, Adugodi, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560030, India
Eva Schlecht: Group Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Kassel, Steinstrasse 19, 37213 Witzenhausen and Georg-August-University Göttingen, Albrecht-Thaer-Weg 3, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
Sven König: Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Ludwigstraße 21 b, 35390 Gießen, Germany

Agriculture, 2020, vol. 10, issue 12, 1-18

Abstract: Greenhouse gas emissions from livestock farming and in particular enteric methane (CH 4 ) from ruminants are criticized for being one of the main contributors to climate change. Different breeding, feeding and management strategies are tested to decrease these emissions, but a status quo analysis is also relevant to implement such measures. The present study aimed to analyze the concentration of CH 4 in air exhaled by dairy cows along a rural-urban gradient of Bangalore, India. Urban, mixed and rural areas were defined based on a survey stratification index (SSI) comprising build-up density and distance to the city center. Using a laser methane detector (LMD), CH 4 concentration was determined in 2-min spot measurements of exhaled air of 448 cows at three equally spaced visits between June 2017 and April 2018. Mean, maximum and CH 4 concentration per duration of the overall measurement, eructation and respiration bouts were calculated. For the overall mean and respiration bouts, CH 4 concentration was higher in cows from urban areas, which had also higher milk yield than cows from mixed and rural areas. Although no differences were found in terms of the intake level of fibrous diet components, the type of measurement location (indoor, half-outdoor or outdoor) and pasture access had an impact on CH 4 concentration. To our knowledge, this is the first study using the LMD on-farm and in an urbanizing environment. The LMD measurements show variations in enteric CH 4 emissions along the rural-urban gradient of Bangalore that reflect differences in dairy husbandry systems governed by the social-ecological context.

Keywords: dairy cattle; husbandry system; laser methane detector (LMD); methane emission; rural-urban gradient; survey stratification index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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