Greenhouse gas emissions from livestock manure (cattle) in different feeding formulas, methods and practices

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) reported that the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions with 18% of the total CO2 emissions, 3% higher than the transport sector with 15%. Thus, urgent action is needed to mitigate the emission of greenhouse gasses from livestock. The study used twenty-four (24) heads of cattle (eight natives, eight crossbreeds, and eight Brahman). These test animals were distributed in the four experimental treatments: treatment 1- commercial feeding practices, treatment 2- good agricultural practices, treatment 3- conventional feeding practices, and treatment 4- organic agricultural practices. The result shows that conventional feeding practice had the lowest greenhouse gas emission with an average emission of 1,996.37 L, while good agricultural practice is the highest (3,614, 59 L) and is a significant difference among treatment means (p = >0.05). With regards to the breeds of cattle, crossbreeds had the lowest greenhouse gas emissions (2,030.87 L) while Brahman was the highest (3,312.42 L) with no significant difference (p = >0.05). Moreover, gas chromatography analysis shows methane had the highest percent emission (52-72%), followed by carbon dioxide (16.33-18.33%) and other gasses (11-22%). The findings revealed that feeding practices affect the emission and composition of greenhouse gasses in cattle manure. Published by the Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences | JBE