Opportunities for Synergy in the Research Strategy
Manipulation of the diet of ruminants offers the prospect of both reduced methane production in the rumen and reduced excretion of nitrogen, particularly excretion in urine. However, as discussed above, while some of these approaches are likely to improve the efficiency of the ruminant and achieve an emission reduction per unit of intake or unit of production, they will not achieve a reduction in total emissions unless total animal numbers and/or production are also limited.
| Given what is already known about diet manipulation, we recommend that research on the development of farming systems that exploit this knowledge in a practical and economic way is deserving of a high priority. |
Another area of potential synergy is the dual benefits of reduced nitrous oxide emissions and reduced flow of nitrates into water bodies that could be obtained from better management of the soil nitrogen cycle, in particular the leaching of nitrate. The technology for managing the application of nitrogen fertiliser to achieve efficient use and minimal losses already exists to a large degree. What may be lacking is an adequate match between the deployment of these technologies and farmers' objectives.
We recommend that research aimed at optimising the application of nitrogen fertiliser in a variety of environments, and research directed at the efficient management of nitrogen outflows from soils, the trapping of nitrates before they reach waterways and their conversion to nitrogen gas rather than nitrous oxide is high priority.
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