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.
The Croplands Research Group met for the fourth time in Bari, Italy, alongside the Eurosoil 2012 Conference.
The Group meet in conjunction with the Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling Cross-Cutting Group and was attended by 49 delegates and technical experts representing 20 Alliance member countries.
A short summary version of the meeting report is now available from the Croplands Research Group page.
Alliance member countries sent representatives and research experts to a workshop in Bangkok, Thailand on the 20th June to develop a Livestock Research Group Animal Health and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Intensity Network. This initial workshop coincided with the 15th International Congress on Infectious Diseases and STAR-IDAZ meetings (http://www.star-idaz.net/).
The workshop was a perfect opportunity to see how STAR-IDAZ and the Livestock Research Group could work together to promote the understanding of animal disease and greenhouse gas emissions intensity in order to identify possible future work. Experts and Alliance dicussed the scope of a possible animal health and greenhouse gas emissions intensity network under the Livestock Research Group. For more information on this Network, including presentations from the workshop see the LRG networks and databases page.
A priority project for the Alliance’s Livestock Research Group has been the evaluation of the USA developed GreenFeed (C-Lock) system to measure methane emissions from cattle in herd grazing situations.
An international collaboration between scientists in New Zealand and the USA to evaluate field methane measurement from cattle using the C-Lock system (an automated methane measurement system). The US scientists had developed the C-Lock system for a temperate grazing pastoral system. The UK and Australian governments have invested in the purchase of C-Lock systems and will spend time trialling and evaluating the system for use in their countries, but using the results from this study as background information.
A brief report on the first evaluation of this system under controlled conditions in New Zealand may be requested from the authors. Please visit the LRG technical information and knowledge page for more information.
A new report by the Technical Working Group on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (T-AGG) at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions synthesizes the fundamental information needed to design programs for livestock producers to report and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. It discusses in detail strategies to reduce enteric and manure methane emissions from dairy, beef, and swine systems.
The full report, released at the July C-AGG meeting, is available online along with a shorter companion brief. Learn more about the full T-AGG body of work, which provides a technical foundation for programs to engage farmers and ranchers on working agricultural land in the United States, on the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions website.
An article has been published in the Journal of Agricultural & Food Information about the development of a literature database for the Alliance’s Croplands Research Group. The database allows members of the Croplands Research Group to search and upload references of published literature concerned with mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from croplands by country, climate or cropping system.
The database was developed by faculty and staff at Kansas State University Libraries in collaboration with Dr Chuck Rice of Kansas State University. The article covers the development and implementation of the database as well as lessons learned.
The Croplands Research Group is happy to have contributed to this published paper and is grateful to Chuck Rice and K-State for their partnership.
The article can be downloaded from the Journal of Agricultural & Food Information
Livia Olsen, Tara Baillargeon & Harish Maringanti (2012): Developing an Open Access Croplands Research Database Through Global Collaboration, Journal of Agricultural & Food Information, 13:1, 35-44.
The Research Groups Chairs give their presentation
A short summary report from the June 2012 meeting of the Alliance Council in Saskatoon, Canada is now available for you to download and read.
The meeting was attended by participants from 21 member countries, two observer countries and representatives from invited international organisations.
The meeting saw New Zealand hand over the role of Alliance Chair to Canada, Uruguay was confirmed as the vice-Chair. Outcomes included the finalisation of the Alliance Communications Policy, and update from the Research and cross-cutting Groups of the Alliance and presentations from international organisations invited as Partners of the Alliance.
Read the Alliance Council meeting summary.