Lok Sabha Question No. 83 (STARRED), answered on 2019-02-08
Subject: Maintenance of Livestock
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: PARVESH SAHIB SINGH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 83

TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.02.2019

## Maintenance of Livestock

## *83. SHRI PARVESH SAHIB SINGH:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether maintenance of livestock has a huge carbon imprint on the environment and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has any figures/data regarding the amount of green house gases generated annually by the meat industry in India and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) whether the Government has taken any steps to check and control the negative impacts that the meat industry has on climate change in the country and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## Statement referred to in reply to Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 83 by Shri Parvesh Sahib Singh regarding 'Maintenance of Livestock'

(a) and (b) The Greenhouse Gases (GHG) namely, methane and nitrous oxide are emitted by livestock through enteric fermentation and manure (animal wastes) management. As per the Fifth  Assessment  Report  of  the  Intergovernmental  Panel  on  Climate  Change  (IPCC) published  in  2013,  ruminant  livestock  such  as  cattle,  sheep,  goats,  etc  globally  produce between 87 and 94 million tonnes of methane per year by food fermentation in their anoxic rumens.  According  to  India's  Second  Biennial  Update  Report  (BUR-2)  submitted  to  the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in December 2018, GHG  emissions  in  2014  by  livestock  in  the  form  of  enteric  fermentation  and  manure management was 255.26 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent which is about 9.79% of the total GHG emissions of the country.

The  National  GHG  Inventory  is  prepared  on  the  basis  of  IPCC  guidelines  and periodically submitted to UNFCCC. The GHG Inventory for meat industry is included in the emissions from the livestock under the agriculture emissions. In addition marginal methane emissions are also contributed by wastewater generated by poultry and meat industry.

(c) According  to the  document  ' Samanvay ' published by this Ministry in 2017, significant proportion of India's population is vegetarian. Meat consumption in India is only 12 grams per person per day against the global average of 115 grams per person per day. However, Government has initiated various schemes and programmes for reduction of GHG emissions  from  livestock.  Several  feeding  modules  have  been  developed  for  reducing methane emissions from rearing of sheep and goat. Ration Balancing Programme contributes to  improving  animal  productivity  as  well  in  reducing  both  the  cost  of  production  and  the emission of greenhouse gases per unit of animal product. Feeding bypass proteins is another programme that optimizes use of protein supplements within the ruminant system.

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