Indian Dairy Sector and Climate Change

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas emitted from dairy animals. The methane mitigation projects can offer both, environmental and economic benefits as the emissions also imply loss of energy in dairy production. In the recent years, the GHG mitigation activities have intensified under the Kyoto Protocol. Despite of high contribution of dairy animals to the India's GHG budget, the mitigation efforts in this direction have been lacking. Baseline, the quantum of business-as-usual emissions, is a prerequisite for formulating a mitigation project. This study, covering 13 Indian states in all the geographical regions, attempts to assess the baseline methane emissions in dairy sector using disaggregated data at agro-climatic zone and district level. IPCC Tier II methodology is used for estimating regional methane emissions factors for various types of dairy animals. The study delineates the hot-spots, high carbon credit- low mitigation cost regions, for focusing mitigation activities. The information provided herein can be of use for researchers, policy makers and project proponents for targeting R&D initiatives, planning and designing appropriate mitigation actions for dairy sector.