Greenhouse gases are implicated in global warming. Most climate experts agree that human activity has been increasing the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and other greenhouse gases, thus contributing to planetary warming and climate change.

But now, experts in Argentina have designed a plan to cut the emission of methane during the process of digestion in cattle by up to 30 percent, based on a study carried out by scientists at the National University of the Centre of the Province of Buenos Aires (UNICEN).

The study looked at various ways of reducing enteric methane emissions in cattle. Enteric methane is produced by the breakdown of food by microorganisms in the rumen, the first stomach of cattle and other ruminants.

"The solution to the problem is a diet of pasture supplemented with balanced feed, with additives to improve the animals' digestion, and more efficient herd management," Roberto Gratton, a member of the research group that carried out the study, told IPS. These recommendations could be the key to increasing productivity in the livestock sector and reducing emissions of methane.

The study presents extensive information about gases emitted by cattle in Argentina, but also in Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, countries that, with Venezuela, are its Mercosur partners.

According to the study, 48 percent of the greenhouse gases emitted by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay come from the agricultural and livestock sectors.

Global warming is normally associated with carbon dioxide liberated during the burning of fossil fuels. About 73 percent of global emissions are from fossil fuel burning, and in the case of the United States -- the largest emitter -- the proportion is 84 percent.

But in less developed countries which are more reliant on agriculture, the proportions are different. In Mercosur, where the rural sector is expanding due to food exports, the main concern is the countryside.

Source: Inter Press Service