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Jebari A, Pereyra-Goday F, Kumar A, Collins AL, Rivero MJ, McAuliffe GA. Feasibility of mitigation measures for agricultural greenhouse gas emissions in the UK. A systematic review. AGRONOMY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2023; 44:2. [PMID: 38161803 PMCID: PMC10754757 DOI: 10.1007/s13593-023-00938-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/24/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
The UK Government has set an ambitious target of achieving a national "net-zero" greenhouse gas economy by 2050. Agriculture is arguably placed at the heart of achieving net zero, as it plays a unique role as both a producer of GHG emissions and a sector that has the capacity via land use to capture carbon (C) when managed appropriately, thus reducing the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Agriculture's importance, particularly in a UK-specific perspective, which is also applicable to many other temperate climate nations globally, is that the majority of land use nationwide is allocated to farming. Here, we present a systematic review based on peer-reviewed literature and relevant "grey" reports to address the question "how can the agricultural sector in the UK reduce, or offset, its direct agricultural emissions at the farm level?" We considered the implications of mitigation measures in terms of food security and import reliance, energy, environmental degradation, and value for money. We identified 52 relevant studies covering major foods produced and consumed in the UK. Our findings indicate that many mitigation measures can indeed contribute to net zero through GHG emissions reduction, offsetting, and bioenergy production, pending their uptake by farmers. While the environmental impacts of mitigation measures were covered well within the reviewed literature, corresponding implications regarding energy, food security, and farmer attitudes towards adoption received scant attention. We also provide an open-access, informative, and comprehensive dataset for agri-environment stakeholders and policymakers to identify the most promising mitigation measures. This research is of critical value to researchers, land managers, and policymakers as an interim guideline resource while more quantitative evidence becomes available through the ongoing lab-, field-, and farm-scale trials which will improve the reliability of agricultural sustainability modelling in the future. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13593-023-00938-0.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asma Jebari
- Net Zero and Resilient Farming, Rothamsted Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, EX20 2SB Devon UK
| | - Fabiana Pereyra-Goday
- Instituto Nacional de Investigacion Agropecuaria (INIA), Ruta 8 km 281, Treinta y Tres, postcode 33000 Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Atul Kumar
- Net Zero and Resilient Farming, Rothamsted Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, EX20 2SB Devon UK
| | - Adrian L. Collins
- Net Zero and Resilient Farming, Rothamsted Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, EX20 2SB Devon UK
| | - M. Jordana Rivero
- Net Zero and Resilient Farming, Rothamsted Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, EX20 2SB Devon UK
| | - Graham A. McAuliffe
- Net Zero and Resilient Farming, Rothamsted Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, EX20 2SB Devon UK
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Oo AZ, Yamamoto A, Ono K, Umamageswari C, Mano M, Vanitha K, Elayakumar P, Matsuura S, Bama KS, Raju M, Inubushi K, Sudo S, Saitoh N, Hayashida S, Ravi V, Ambethgar V. Ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange and water use efficiency in a triple-cropping rice paddy in Southern India: A two-year field observation. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 854:158541. [PMID: 36075426 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2022] [Revised: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 09/01/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The lowland tropical triple-cropping rice system has unique characteristics that affect the hydrological, nutrient, and atmospheric environments. To better understand the ecosystem carbon and water dynamics of a triple-cropping rice paddy from the perspective of sustainability, ecosystem-level CO2 flux and ecosystem water use efficiency (eWUE) were observed using eddy covariance over 2 years (2016-2018) at an experimental field site in southern India, and gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (RE) were derived using the flux partitioning technique. Results showed that among the three crop seasons per year, GPP and RE were higher (887.2 and 570.2 g C m-2, respectively) in Thaladi (October-January: wet season) than in Kuruvai (June-September: dry season; 773.4 and 568.9 g C m-2, respectively) and summer rice (February-May; 694.0 and 499.7 g C m-2, respectively) owing to the longer growing season. Triple-cropping meant that the quasi-annual GPP of 2598 g C m-2 (i.e., the total value for the three consecutive seasons, including the corresponding fallow periods) was much greater than the quasi-annual RE of 1974 g C m-2. Consequently, the net ecosystem production value was positive (624 g C m-2). Evapotranspiration was also high on the annual scale (1681 mm); that is, 48 % greater than mean annual precipitation (1139 mm). Analysis revealed that Thaladi had higher eWUE (2.21 g C (kg H2O)-1) than that of Kuruvai (1.46 g C (kg H2O)-1) and summer rice (1.57 g C (kg H2O)-1) owing to decreased water loss in cloudy weather. Intense solar radiation is generally recognized as advantageous for crop growth in most regions, but not for Kuruvai and summer rice, when too strong solar radiation increases loss of water unused for photosynthesis. The findings indicate that water-saving techniques should be targeted on the Kuruvai and summer rice seasons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aung Zaw Oo
- Tokyo Gakugei University, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8501, Japan
| | | | - Keisuke Ono
- Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8604, Japan.
| | | | - Masayoshi Mano
- Graduate School of Horticulture, Chiba University, Matsudo, Chiba 271-8510, Japan
| | - Koothan Vanitha
- Tamil Nadu Rice Research Institute, Aduthurai, Tamil Nadu 612 101, India
| | | | - Shoji Matsuura
- Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8604, Japan
| | | | - Marimuthu Raju
- Tamil Nadu Rice Research Institute, Aduthurai, Tamil Nadu 612 101, India
| | - Kazuyuki Inubushi
- Graduate School of Horticulture, Chiba University, Matsudo, Chiba 271-8510, Japan; Graduate School of Applied Bio-Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Setagaya, Tokyo 156-8502, Japan
| | - Shigeto Sudo
- Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8604, Japan
| | - Naoko Saitoh
- Center for Environmental Remote Sensing, Chiba University, Chiba 263-8522, Japan
| | - Sachiko Hayashida
- Nara Women's University, Nara 630-8506, Japan; Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto 603-8047, Japan
| | - Venkatachalam Ravi
- Tamil Nadu Rice Research Institute, Aduthurai, Tamil Nadu 612 101, India; Agricultural Research Station, Kattuthottam, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu 613 501, India
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