Provinces to get technical support for mitigating emissions

Islamabad : The climate change ministry will extend its technical support to the provinces to help mitigate and minimize the Green House Gases (GHG) emissions from the agriculture and livestock sectors.

According to the draft proposals that would be shared and discussed with the provincial authorities there is a need to promote integration of indigenous knowledge and the latest technology with scientific research to spearhead efforts towards an ecologically sustainable green revolution.

The draft underlined the need to promote wide-scale adaptation of better management practices for agriculture and livestock with a reduction in the use of chemical fertilizer and pesticides.

The GHG emissions from agriculture and livestock in Pakistan grew at the rate of about 3 percent per annum. There is a pressing need to find ways to contain these emissions or at least slow down their growth rate.

It urged the provinces to explore methods to reduce nitrous oxide release from agricultural soils by changing the mix of chemical fertilizers.

“The use of green manure, better manure storage and management along with development of biogas and manure digester will help reduce methane through Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) support,” it said.

There is also a need to develop and adopt new breeds of cattle, which are more productive in terms of milk and meat, and have lower methane production from enteric fermentation.

The ministry would encourage farmers to use appropriate feed mixes and additives to reduce methane production from enteric digestion in cattle. The rationale use of water in rice paddies would help control releases of methane from agricultural soils and introduce low water dependent rice varieties.

The draft urged the provinces to promote no till farming for methane abatement and enhance cultivation of crops used for bio-fuel production keeping in mind food security of the country.

The provinces have to develop capacities of the relevant institutions to undertake appropriate mitigation actions to reduce GHG emissions from the agriculture and livestock sectors.

It concluded that achievement of these goals would require technological innovations and financial resources, for which the ministry would seek the support of the International community.