The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, in cooperation with the United Nations University, established in 2011 a capacity building programme for leading scientists engaged in research related to sustainable agriculture. This programme supports on-the-job training (OJT) projects for young researchers in developing countries. For the 2013 fiscal year, in support of the activities of Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA), priority will be given to those projects which relate to climate change mitigation. For more information, please visit the UNU Institute for Sustainability and Peace (UNU-ISP) (link: http://isp.unu.edu/news/2013/ojcb-programme.html ).
For more information on fellowships and awards in support of the Alliance visit the Fellowships and Awards page here.
The latest Livestock Research Group Newsletter for May 2013 has now been uploaded to the website. Download it here Newsletter 8 – May 2013 or see the Livestock Research page.
UPDATE: New link to the 2020 revised guidelines
The Nitrous Oxide Chamber Methodologies page has now been added to the website. The full guidelines document can be downloaded on the page, or individual chapters. The document provides internationally agreed reference guidelines for measuring N2O emissions using chamber methodologies, so as to inform the production quality N2O flux measurement data and improve inter-comparability between international studies.
The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) is hosting a plenary, cross-divisional symposium at its annual meeting of the Tri-Societies (American Society of Agronomy-Crop Science Society of America-Soil Science Society of America) on Monday 4 November 2013 in Tampa, Florida. The symposium will address one of the most important questions facing science and society “How Can Global Food/Fiber Security and Environmental Quality be Simultaneously Achieved?”
Download the SSSA symposium flyer for more information.
The Soil science symposium is to be held alongside the annual “Tri-Societies” conference in Tampa, Florida, USA. The Alliance’s Croplands Research Group will hold its 2013 meeting on Thursday 7 November in Tampa, Florida alongside the Conference events.
The Netherlands Country Page has now been added to the website. It outlines the Netherlands’ contribution to the Alliance and current projects. The Netherlands sees the GRA as an important platform for sharing information and achieving common goals. To read more click here.
The first issue of the Paddy Rice Research Group e-News has been released. Download it here: PRRG_e-News_130402.
The newsletter will be sent out to the contact points of member countries and partners and is planned to be issued once every three months or so. The e-News will be a good tool for communicating with eachother. Please transfer and circulate it to anyone whom you know to be interested in the activities of GRA-PRRG.
If you have any useful information that is relevant to the GRA-PRRG, such as events, meetings, publications and others, please send to Kaz Yagi at [email protected].
For more information on the Paddy Rice Research Group and its activities see the Paddy Rice Research Group page.
The first issue of a newsletter communicating the UK’s participation in the Global Research Alliance has been released. Download Issue 1 UK Agri-Science and Innovation [PDF] – Supporting international actions to mitigate agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.
Issue 1 covers international activities that build upon the UK Government’s investment in the UK Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Platform (www.ghgplatform.org.uk) including: UK participation at Alliance Research Group meetings, Alliance activities and networks being led by the UK and participation at capacity building workshops and network meetings by UK scientists.
For more information on the UK’s participation in the Global Research Alliance and to receive regular updates, meeting reports, notification of funding opportunities and events please contact [email protected] or [email protected].
Vietnamese researcher, Loan Thanh Le, from the University of Agriculture and Forestry in Ho Chi Minh City has been awarded a Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases Borlaug Fellowship. Le will study greenhouse gas emissions from the production of rice and biofuel feedstocks at Kansas State University, USA for three months. Read more about Le’s work in the High Plains/ Mid West Ag Journal.
Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases Borlaug Fellowships are awarded under the auspices of the Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellowship Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service. The fellowships are funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Fellows are selected from eight developing countries that are members of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases.
An article in support of the Paddy Rice Research Group – “Appropriate frequency and time of day to measure methane emissions from an irrigated rice paddy in Japan using the manual closed chamber method” has been published in the Greenhouse Gas Measurement and Management Journal. This research article is the first outcome for the Paddy Rice Research Group activity standardising measurements of greenhouse gas emissions from paddy rice. The next step for this research will be to compare data from irrigated rice paddies with different water management and tropical climates.
Kazunori Minamikawa, Kazuyuki Yagi, Takeshi Tokida, Bjoern Ole Sander & Reiner Wassmann (2012): Appropriate frequency and time of day to measure methane emissions from an irrigated rice paddy in Japan using the manual closed chamber method, Greenhouse Gas Measurement and Management, 2:2-3, 118-128.
Abstract
Rice agriculture is a large anthropogenic source of atmospheric methane (CH4). The reliable estimation of CH4 emissions requires frequent measurements to trace diurnal and seasonal variations. To evaluate the appropriate intervals and optimal time of day to measure CH4 emissions using the manual closed chamber method, this study analysed four datasets of CH4 fluxes in a Japanese irrigated rice paddy measured at 2-hour intervals using the automated closed chamber method. The typical diurnal variation in the CH4 flux was observed after the rice’s heading stage, during which the daily time-weighted mean CH4 flux was observed twice, in the 08:00–11:59 and 18:00–21:59 time windows. During the flooded rice-growing period, the CH4 emissions, which were estimated by weekly measurements once per day during the 10:00–11:59 time window, corresponded to 93–106% of the emissions calculated using the automated measurement method. In contrast, no regular measurement strategies produced a satisfactory estimate of the CH4 emissions during the non-flooded rice-growing period because of a sharp increase in the CH4 flux just after the drainage. Consequently, the combination of weekly measurements once per day at approximately 10:00 as local mean time for the flooded rice-growing period and daily measurements once per day during the daytime for 1 week after each drainage event is recommended as a strategy to obtain the estimation with a ±10% error.
Read the complete article: Greenhouse Gas Measurement and Management (subscription required)
The Australian Government has announced the second round of competitive grants funding for the $201 million Filling the Research Gap Program.
Filling the Research Gap is providing eligible Australian organisations with funding to identify and develop new low–cost abatement options for the land sector to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon.
International engagement is an important priority under this round of Filling the Research Gap through the promotion of collaborative efforts between Australian researchers and member countries of the Global Research Alliance on agricultural greenhouse gases.
Australia has already made outstanding contributions to international climate change research through the Climate Change Research Program and projects funded under the first round of Filling the Research Gap are building on these efforts.
For more information visit Filling the Research Gap on the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry website at www.daff.gov.au/climatechange/carbonfarmingfutures/ftrg
Carbon Management has published an article describing the Eurosoil 2012 conference in Bari, Italy earlier this year. The article has a particular emphasis on greenhouse gases and the participation of the Global Research Alliance at the conference. The direct link to the article, which can be accessed free of charge is: http://www.future-science.com/toc/cmt/3/5
The Croplands Research Group and the Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling Cross-cutting Group held a joint meeting alongside the conference. This was the first Group meeting of the Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling Cross-Cutting Group. The Group has already held two workshops determining topics of work which informed their work plan discussions at Bari. A short summary version of the meeting report is now available from the Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling Cross-cutting Group page.
The Manure Management Network (MMN) of the Alliance’s Livestock Research Group has meet for the first time at a workshop in Rome, Italy. The MMN is one of five networks that coordinate activities around specific topics relating to issues that concern the Livestock Research Group.
Participants attended from 12 Alliance member countries and were joined by invited guests from the FAO Livestock Dialogue programme to discuss the work plan of the network, and connections with FAO activities. The participants identified several activities that the network would undertake in the coming year including the development of guidelines for measuring emissions from manure, identification of mitigation options with an economic evaluation for each alignment of network activities to the Manure kiosk and pilot projects of the FAO Livestock Dialogue.
A short summary report and further information about this network can be found on the Livestock Research Group research networks and databases page.