Agriculture’s role in greenhouse gas mitigation

This report discusses the role of agriculture in climate change mitigation with an emphasis on US agriculture. The report presents:mitigation opportunities through increased sinks and reduced emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs)the economic feasibility of carbon sequestrationoptions for bioenergy from agricultural lands.Indicating that one-third of the total human-induced warming effect due to GHGs comes from agriculture and land-use change, the report argues that the relevant management technologies and practices for soil sequestration can be deployed quickly and at costs that are low, particularly relative to many other GHG-reduction options. To achieve maximum results, policies must be put in place to promote, and make attractive to farmers, practices that increase soil carbon and efficiently use fertilisers, pesticides, irrigation, and animal feeds.The report indicates that agriculture can reduce GHG emissions by providing biofuels. The application of best management practices in agriculture and use of biofuels for GHG mitigation can have substantial co-benefits by increasing the organic matter content of soils, improving soil quality and fertility, increasing water retention, and reducing erosion. Similarly, improving manure management to reduce methane and nitrous oxide emissions is beneficial to water and air quality and reduces odours. The report argues that as biofuel use expands, it will be important to ensure that biomass is produced responsibly, taking both environmental and socio-economic impacts into consideration.The report concludes that farmers’ decisions about whether to adopt new management practices and whether to grow energy crops will ultimately determine the level of success of any agricultural sector GHG mitigation strategy. Farmers’ decisions are motivated first and foremost by what they perceive to be most profitable. Thus, mitigation practices must be economically attractive to farmers. If farmers can be persuaded to adopt desired practices, the impacts on GHG emissions could be significant.