Methane Footprint of Milk in Integrated Crop-Livestock Farms in Indian Punjab

The present study was undertaken to examine the methane footprint of milk in integrated crop-livestock farms in Indian Punjab by taking stock of a crucial narrative, i.e., the methane emission in relation to the specie-specific milk production. The formulations of the study are based on the primary data from 180 mixed farms with a herd volume of 1064 heads from all three agro-climatic zones (Central Plain Zone: Zone 1, South-western Zone: Zone 2, and Sub-mountainous Zone; Zone 3) of Punjab. The enteric methane emission at the farm level has been quantified by using Tier II methodology given by The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007), The estimation has provided evidence that the methane emission rate has been the lowest in the case of indigenous cattle in comparison to buffalo and crossbred cattle. The entire in-milk herd accounted for 81.2% of the farm level enteric methane emission, the contribution of lactating buffalo being the highest (50.3%) followed by crossbred (27%) and indigenous cattle (3.9%). The study has conclusively established the supremacy of crossbred cattle from the environmental sustainability standpoint, with the carbon footprint of crossbred cows’ milk being the lowest (681.6 g CO2-e/kg milk) in comparison to that of buffalo (836.1 g CO2-e/kg milk) and indigenous cattle (900.9 g CO2-e/kg milk). The long-term solution for enhancing the sustainability of livestock sector lies in lowering the quantum of methane emission, which calls for policy prescriptions to address the issue of lowering the emissions and enhancing the productivity.