Isra-Mart srl:Defra vows to help farmers prune greenhouse gases

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Multimillion-pound research programme to identify low-carbon farming techniques
BusinessGreen.com Staff, BusinessGreen.

The government has today announced the launch of a new £12.6m research programme designed to develop new techniques for measuring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector.

According to government figures, agriculture accounts for eight per cent of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions, including 76 per cent of UK nitrous oxide emissions and 38 per cent of methane emissions.

However, the figures are calculated using what Defra admits is a simplified approach based on generic emissions values and national statistics for livestock numbers and fertiliser use. As such, they fail to take into account how different farming techniques can help to curb emissions.

For example, some farms are piloting new feeding techniques for livestock that are thought to reduce methane emissions, while there is also a school of thought that using fertilisers on certain crops at different times may reduce nitrous oxide emissions.

In particular, the research will focus on improving emissions data collection across the sector and better understanding the factors that effect methane and nitrous oxide emissions.

Farming minister Jim Paice said that the research programme would aim to develop a more granular understanding of agriculture's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and identify those techniques that are best at cutting emissions.

"Farmers are already taking action to reduce their impact on climate change and this £12.6m investment in world-class research and development will enable us to understand which measures are having the biggest impacts," he said.

The four-and-a-half-year project will involve 16 research organisations across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and will be managed by Defra.

The launch of the project comes ahead of the imminent unveiling of an agriculture industry delivery plan, designed to detail how the sector will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.