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Funded by: NICRA

The carbon footprint of agricultural production at the national level, including direct and indirect emissions, a significant knowledge gap with important policy implications. This research funded by NICRA seeks to fill this gap by undertaking the determination of the carbon footprint at the national and regional level for major field crops, cropping systems across agro-climatic zones, integrated bovine livestock-crop systems and milk production through the method of Life Cycle Assessment. This study attempts to provide a system-wide accounting of emissions from various related activities without being restricted to purely farm management practices. It will go beyond agronomy-based considerations to include impact due to economic and material linkages of inputs with farm-based activity. Currently, little or no effort of this scale has been undertaken for developing countries.

The outcome of this project will provide key policy insights into the potential, scope and extent of mitigation to lower the carbon footprint across different components of the agricultural production chain. It will be the first to comprehensively estimate future essential emissions from the agricultural sector, and its input supply chains in keeping with India’s food security requirements.