Four Season News, GHG Blocks
NEW MOLASSES BLOCKS BUSTING POVERTY, GREEN HOUSE GASES
RESEARCHERS have found that high-quality nutrient molasses block supplements fed to cattle and buffalo in developing countries can address both rural poverty and climate change.
Work done by the University of Sydney in both Laos and Cambodia during the past 13 years shows nutritional and health interventions not only improve the efficiency of livestock production, but directly increase the efficiency of smallholder farmer enterprises by up to a factor of five.
Four Season News, GHG Blocks
NEW STUDY FINDS THAT SEVERE UNDERNUTRITION OF CATTLE INCREASES THEIR METHANE PRODUCTION
Livestock production generates significant amounts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, accounting for about 65% of the total emissions from agriculture globally. Of these emissions, 40% are generated through enteric fermentation, the digestive processes that ferment feed in ruminants.
Methane (CH4) emissions from enteric fermentation are a key source of GHG emissions. To reduce these emissions, there is the need to accurately estimate them especially because methane traps more heat and thus has a greater global warming potential than carbon dioxide (CO2) for instance. Therefore, reducing the rate of enteric methane emissions is necessary to mitigate global warming.
Four Season News, GHG Blocks
ADVANCED LIVESTOCK FEED SUPPLEMENTS TO REDUCE AUSTRALIA’S EMISSIONS
HIGH tech livestock feed supplements will be one of the key drivers of a comprehensive strategy to reduce Australia’s emissions by 2050.
Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor said advanced livestock feed supplements, hydrogen, lithium, carbon capture and storage would be pursued in a major shift away from investment in well developed wind and solar technologies.
Four Season News, GHG Blocks
GATES FOUNDATION: LIVESTOCK CAN END POVERTY
LIVESTOCK hold massive potential for lifting entire populations out of poverty but genetics, health and feed remain major barriers to achieving meaningful change to animal production systems in developing countries.
Alfred de Vries, who leads the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s animal production R&D program, said the $4.7 billion a year philanthrophic organisation recognised massive nutritional and productivity gains were possible.
Four Season News, GHG Blocks
HOW BEEF CATTLE ARE HELPING LIFT LAOS WOMEN OUT OF POVERTY
IMPROVING the health and nutrition of the South East Asian cattle herd is playing a direct role in lifting women out of poverty.
Work being carried in the Luang Prabang region of northern Laos is showing that training in biosecurity, livestock management, and the use of vaccinations to prevent disease is enabling farmers to rapidly grow their cattle herds and improve their profitability.