Hyderabad: One hectare of rice production releases 30,671 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (CO2) to the atmosphere and has an impact on climate change, declaring new studies by the Sustainable Agriculture Center (CSA) conducted in Telangana.
Further research said that methane emissions (CH4) and dangerous nitro oxide (N20) are part of CO2 equivalent, according to international standards.
Ton of CO2 contains 32 tons of methane and 300 tons of nitrogen dioxide (N20).
The researchers said this study was important after the recent inter-governmental panel report in the climate change report (IPCC) which said CO2 emissions must be reduced by 50% by 2030 from now to reduce the rate of climate change.
CSA completed this research to understand the ecological footprint of rice cultivation.
Paddy Farming creates higher emissions than all other plants because of water retention in the field, which produces methane (20,223 kg per hectare) and the use of field energy (6,240 kg).
According to Agricultural Scientists GV Ramanjaneyulu, who was actively involved with this study, because production rice almost doubled in seven years since Telangana’s formation, there was an increase in CO2 emissions, and fulfilling the suggested goals set by the IPCC on reducing CO2 emissions was very challenging.
“What we count is only at the agricultural level, but if we add water retention on large dams and irrigation projects, as well as power use, CO2 emissions will be significantly higher,” he said.
There is a need to check how much the overall impact of rice cultivation compared to CO2 emissions created by vehicles and industries, he said.
This study shows that wheat cultivation, peanuts, and tomatoes create fewer carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per hectare than rice cultivation.
This study was conducted in Jangoan, Vicarabad, Adilabad, and Siddipet.