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Carbon footprint status of Indian Punjab in relation to different pre- to post-harvest activities of paddy cultivation

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Abstract

The increasing area under paddy crop, excessive groundwater pumping, over-use of agrochemicals (fertilizers and pesticides) and increasing area under paddy residue burning have become the key contributors of increased carbon emission (CE) and carbon footprint (CF) in Punjab state. After agrochemicals (71.7% CE), residue burning (16.4% CE) was recorded to be the largest contributor of CE in the state, followed by irrigation (6.9% CE). Among the three major zones, CE was recorded to be 13.4%, 58.5% and 28.1% in the North-West, Central and South-West zone, respectively, with being highest and lowest in Central and North-West zone, respectively. The average annual CF (t CO2 eq/t) was recorded to be 1.11 ± 0.23, 0.94 ± 0.05 and 0.99 ± 0.06 t CO2 eq/t for North-West, Central and South-West zones, respectively, with a total value of 3.04 ± 0.34 t CO2 eq/t at state level. On average, CF of the state indicated an increasing trend from 0.96 t CO2 eq/t in 2017–2018 to 1.09 t CO2 eq/t in 2019–2020. The higher CF values indicated higher GHGS emission in relation to groundwater pumping, fertilizer and pesticide applications, mechanical operations and post-harvest residue burning. Although rice production is very much needed for food security of the region, however, the quantitative and qualitative depletions of available resources (water, soil fertility, air quality, etc.) have started imposing negative impacts on agricultural production and environment. Thus, there is a need to take immediate remedial measures and reduce the over-exploitation of groundwater, over-use of fertilizers and pesticides, and burning of post-harvest paddy residue in the state.

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The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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  1. Department of Soil and Water Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab-141004, India

    Dnyaneshwar Arjun Madane, Mahesh Chand Singh & Sanjay Satpute

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Madane, D.A., Singh, M.C. & Satpute, S. Carbon footprint status of Indian Punjab in relation to different pre- to post-harvest activities of paddy cultivation. Paddy Water Environ 21, 325–341 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-023-00928-8

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