GHG emissions and energy use of paddy-wheat and paddy-potato cropping systems in Middle Indo-Gangetic Plains, India | |
| Author | Sinha, Rajeev Ranjan |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.AE-13-06 |
| Subject(s) | Greenhouse gas mitigation--India Sustainable agriculture--Climatic Factors--India |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement s for the degree of Master of Engineering in Agri cultural Systems and Engineering,School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. AE-13-06 |
| Abstract | The Green House Gases emission (GHG) of farms is a measure to calculate the environmental impact created by growing a particular crop or following a particular cropping system. The energy use efficiency (EUE), the specific energy (SE) and the energy efficiency ratio (EER M ) of farms in a cropping system are indices which can define the efficiency and performance of a farm or farming system. Also, net economic return is the measure of how well a particular farm or a cropping system is performing in monetary terms. In this study GHG emission, Energy Indicators and Net Return to the two mostly followed cropping systems in the Indo - Gangetic Plain s were calculated (GHG emission was calculated using IPCC methodology, Energy indicators were calculated based on Input Output model). Results revealed that Paddy - Potato system emitted higher amount of GHG (ton CO2 eq/ha/yr) than the Paddy - Wheat system. P addy - Potato accounted for 4.53 ± 0.71 ton CO2 eq/ha/yr as compared to the emission from Paddy - Wheat system which was 2.8 ± 1.0 ton CO2 eq/ha/yr. Fertilizer manufacturing contributed to most of emissions, around 48% in Paddy - Wheat and around 52% in the Paddy - Po tato system. The other major contributors were methane emission from the rice field, direct emissions from field and fuel use, contributing 16%, 18%, 13% respectively in Paddy - Wheat and 16%, 16%, 13% respectively in Paddy - Potato system. In terms of Energ y Indicators, Paddy - Wheat system performed better with a higher value of 6.90 ± 1.7 for EUE as compared to 3.61 ± 0.58 for the Paddy - Potato system. For other indicators like EER M (Energy efficiency ratio considering the output of main crop) and SE (Specific En ergy in MJ/ha) the values were high for Paddy - Wheat , 3.94 ± 1.30 and 4.39 ± 2.06 respectively as compared to a lower value of 2.62 ± 0.47 and 2.15 ± 0.35 respectively for Paddy - Potato. Fertilizer use accounted for most of the Input energy in both the systems hav ing a share of 58% and 51% in Paddy - Wheat and Paddy - Potato respectively followed by fuel use having a contribution of 22% and 15% respectively in the two systems. Seeds contributed around 14% of the total input energy in Paddy - Potato as compared to 6% in P addy - Wheat. Other important contributor was electricity contributing 6% and 5% in the two systems. The Net Return of the Paddy - Potato farming system was higher as compared to the Paddy - Wheat system, the values to be 2295.7 ± 8457.42 USD/ha/yr for the previ ous one and 1555.4 ± 856.6 USD/ha/yr. Higher return from Paddy - Potato system was attributed to higher yield and better price of the potato produce. The effect of land sizes were also assessed on the various parameters of the two systems and it showed no ef fect on the parameters of Paddy - Potato system. For Paddy - Wheat system, small farms performed well in terms of Energy indicators while larger farms performed well in terms of economic return. There was no significant effect of land size on the GHG emission from the Paddy - Wheat cropping system. The results were compared and the mean values of various parameters differed significantly. The study suggests the change in the existing cropping system for a sustainable agriculture. |
| Year | 2013 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. AE-13-06 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources (Former title: Department of Food Agriculture, and BioResources (DFAB)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Agricultural and Food Engineering (AE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Perret, Sylvain Roger |
| Examination Committee(s) | Shivakoti, Ganesh P.;Soni, Peeyush |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | HM Queen Fellowship |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2013 |