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volume 33 issue 3 (september 2012) : 293-300

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN LIVESTOCK DEVELOPMENT AND MITIGATION OPTIONS - A Review

K
Kamala Kant
N
Nazam Khan
M
Madhu Suman Rana
1Division of Dairy Extension National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal-132 001, India

  • Submitted|

  • First Online |

  • doi

Cite article:- Kant Kamala, Khan Nazam, Rana Suman Madhu (2025). ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN LIVESTOCK DEVELOPMENT AND MITIGATION OPTIONS - A Review. Agricultural Reviews. 33(3): 293-300. doi: .

ABSTRACT

Livestock sector plays a significant role in the rural economy and provides essential commodities and services to the majority of the rural population. Environmental issues are one of the most serious long-term challenges, facing farmers and livestock owners around the word. In many situations, livestock is the major source of land based pollution, emitting nutrients and organic matter, pathogens and drug residues into rivers, lakes and coastal seas. Animals and their wastes emit gases, some of which contributes to climate change, as do land-use changes caused by demand for feed grains and grazing land. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop suitable institutional and policy frameworks at local, national and international level for the suggested changes to occur. This will require strong political commitment, increased knowledge, awareness of the environmental risks of continuing “business as usual” and the environmental benefits of actions in the livestock sector.

REFERENCES

  1. Allan, J.A. (2001). Virtual Water – economically invisible and politically silent – a way to solve strategic water problems. International Water and Irrigation, 21(4): 39–41.
  2. Anderson, D.M., Galloway, S.B. and Joseph, J.D. (1993). Marine biotoxins and harmful algae: a national plan. Technical Report, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) 2:52-93.
  3. Baillie, J.E.M., Hilton-Taylor, C. and Stuart, S.N. (2004). IUCN red list of threatened species. A global species assessment. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK, IUCN.
  4. Collins R. and Rutherford K. (2004). Modelling bacterial water quality in streams draining pastoral land. Water Research, 38(3): 700–712.
  5. Steinfeld, H. and Blackburn, H. (1997). Livestock and the environment: Finding a balance. Suffolk, UK, WREN media.
  6. De Wit, J., Van Keulen, H., van der Meer, H.G. and Nell, A.J. (1997). Animal manure: asset or liability? World Animal Review 88-1997/1, http://www.fao.org/docrep/w5256t/W5256t05.htm.
  7. Delgado, C., Rosegrant M., Steinfeld, H., Ehui, S. and Courbois, C. (1999). Livestock to 2020: The next food revolution. International Food Policy Research Institute, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and International Livestock Research Institute. IFPRI Food, Agriculture and the Environment Discussion Paper 28, Washington, D.C., pp 72.
  8. FAO and IFAD (2010). Background paper on agriculture and water’, prepared for UN World Water Development Report 4 (to be published in 2012), FAO and IFAD, Rome.
  10. FAO (2003). Presentation from the Area Wide Integration Project (LEAD), Bangkok Workshop, 23-26, July.
  11. Gerber, P. and Menzi, H. (2005). Nitrogen losses from intensive livestock farming systems in Southeast Asia: A review of current trends and mitigation options. International Congress Series, 1293: 225-345.
  12. Gerber, P. and Steinfeld, H. (2006). Regional planning or pollution control: policy options addressing livestock waste, with reference to industrial pig production in Thailand.
  13. Gill, M., Smith, P. and Wilkinson, J. M. (2010). Mitigating climate change: the role of domestic livestock. Animal, 4:323–333.
  14. Hooda, P.S., Edwards, A.C., Anderson, H.A. and Miller, A. (2000). A review of water quality concerns in livestock farming areas. The Science of the Total Environment, 250(1&3):143–167.
  15. IPCC (2002). Climate change and biodiversity. Edited by H. Gitay, A. Suárez, R. T. Watson & D. J. Dokken. IPCC Technical Paper V.
  16. IPCC (2007). Climate Change: Synthesis Report; Summary for Policymakers. Available: http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/ assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr_spm.pdf.
  17. IUCN (2000). IUCN Guidelines for the prevention of biodiversity loss caused by alien invasive species. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
  18. Knox, J. W., Weatherhead, E. K., Rodríguez Díaz, J. A. and Kay, M. G. (2009). Developing a strategy to improve irrigation efficiency in a temperate climate: a case study in England. Outlook on Agriculture, 38(4):303–309.
  19. Kristjanson, P. (2009). The role of livestock in poverty pathways. Proceedings of Animal Nutrition Association World Conference, 14-17 February 2009, New Delhi, India. pp 37-40.
  20. Livestock-environment interactions. Available at www.smallstock.info/issues/environment.htm
  21. MEA (2005). Ecosystems and human well-being: biodiversity synthesis, Washington, DC, World Resources Institute.
  22. Naylor, R., Steinfeld, H., Falcon, W., Galloway, J., Smil, V., Bradford, E., Alder, J. and Mooney, H. (2005). Losing the links between livestock and land. Science, 310: 1621–1622.
  23. NOAA (2006). Trends in atmospheric carbon dioxide. NOAA/Earth System Research Laboratory, Global Monitoring Division.
  24. Pallas, Ph. (1986). Water for animals. Land and Water Development Division, FAO. (Available at www.fao. org/ docrep/R7488E/R7488E00.htm).
  25. RAMSAR (2005). The Ramsar Convention on wetlands: Background papers on wetland values and functions, (Available at http://www.ramsar.org/info/values_ intro_e.htm).
  26. Siegenthaler, U., Stocker, T.F., Monnin, E., Lüthi, D., Schwander, J., Stauffer, B., Raynaud, D., Barnola, J., Fischer, H., Masson-Delmotte, V. and Jouzel, J. (2005). Stable carbon cycle–climate relationship during the late pleistocene. Science, 310(5752): 1313–1317.
  27. Smith, P., Martino, D., Cai, Z., Gwary, D., Janzen, H., Kumar, P., McCarl, B., Ogle, S., O’Mara, F., Rice, C., Scholes, B. and Sirotenko, O. (2007). Agriculture’, in Metz, B., Davidson, O. R., Bosch, P. R., Dave, R. and Meyer, L. A., eds, Climate Change 2007: Mitigation. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York.
  28. Smith, P., Martino, D., Cai, Z., Gwary, D., Janzen, H., Kumar, P., McCarl, B., Ogle, S., O’Mara, F., Rice, C., Scholes, B., Sirotenko, O., Howden, M., McAllister, T., Pan, G., Romanenkov, V., Schneider, U., Towprayoon, S., Wattenbach, M. and Smith, J. (2008). Greenhouse gas mitigation in agriculture. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 363:789–813.
  29. Steinfeld, H., Gerber, P., Wassenaar, T., Castel, V., Rosales, M., De Haan, C. (2006). Livestock’s Long Shadow: environmental issues and options. FAO, Rome, Italy.
  30. Stoate, C., Boatman, N.D., Borralho, R.J., Carvalho, C.R., Snoo, G.R.D. and Eden, P. (2001). Ecological impacts of arable intensification in Europe. Journal of Environmental Management, 63(4): 337–365.
  31. Thomas, C.D., Cameron, A., Green, R.E., Bakkenes, M., Beaumont, L.J., Collingham, Y.C., Erasmus, B.F.N., Ferreira de Siqueira, M., Grainger, A., Lee Hannah, Hughes, L., Huntley, B., van Jaarsveld, A.S., Midgley, G.F., Miles, L., Ortega-Huerta, M.A., Peterson, A.T., Phillips, O.L. and Williams, S.E. (2004). Extinction risk from climate change. Nature, 427: 145–148.
  32. Tilman, D., Fargione, J., Wolff, B., D’Antonio, C., Dobson, A., Howarth, R., Schindler, D., Schlesinger, W.H., Simberloff, D. and Swackhamer, D. (2001). Forecasting agriculturally driven global environmental change. Science, 292(5515): 281–284.
  34. Van Aardenne, J.A., Dentener, F.J., Olivier, J.G.J., Klein Goldewijk, C.G.M. and J. Lelieveld. (2001). A high resolution dataset of historical anthropogenic trace gas emissions for the period 1890–1990. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 15(4): 909–928.
  35. Whitmore, A.P. (2000). Impact of livestock on soil. Sustainable Animal Production, (Available at http:// www.agriculture.de/acms1/conf6/ws4lives.htm).
  36. World Resource Institute (2005). EarthTrends: The Environmental Information Portal. (Available at http:// www.earthtrends.wri.org.Accessed10/12/2005).
  37. Zimmer, D. and Renault, D. (2003). Virtual water in food production and global trade: review of methodological issues and preliminary results. Proceedings of the expert meeting held 12–13 December 2002, Delft, the Netherlands. Editor Arjen Hoekstra, Delft, the Netherlands, UNESCO-IHE.
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    volume 33 issue 3 (september 2012) : 293-300

    ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN LIVESTOCK DEVELOPMENT AND MITIGATION OPTIONS - A Review

    K
    Kamala Kant
    N
    Nazam Khan
    M
    Madhu Suman Rana
    1Division of Dairy Extension National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal-132 001, India

    • Submitted|

    • First Online |

    • doi

    Cite article:- Kant Kamala, Khan Nazam, Rana Suman Madhu (2025). ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN LIVESTOCK DEVELOPMENT AND MITIGATION OPTIONS - A Review. Agricultural Reviews. 33(3): 293-300. doi: .

    ABSTRACT

    Livestock sector plays a significant role in the rural economy and provides essential commodities and services to the majority of the rural population. Environmental issues are one of the most serious long-term challenges, facing farmers and livestock owners around the word. In many situations, livestock is the major source of land based pollution, emitting nutrients and organic matter, pathogens and drug residues into rivers, lakes and coastal seas. Animals and their wastes emit gases, some of which contributes to climate change, as do land-use changes caused by demand for feed grains and grazing land. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop suitable institutional and policy frameworks at local, national and international level for the suggested changes to occur. This will require strong political commitment, increased knowledge, awareness of the environmental risks of continuing “business as usual” and the environmental benefits of actions in the livestock sector.

    REFERENCES

    1. Allan, J.A. (2001). Virtual Water – economically invisible and politically silent – a way to solve strategic water problems. International Water and Irrigation, 21(4): 39–41.
    2. Anderson, D.M., Galloway, S.B. and Joseph, J.D. (1993). Marine biotoxins and harmful algae: a national plan. Technical Report, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) 2:52-93.
    3. Baillie, J.E.M., Hilton-Taylor, C. and Stuart, S.N. (2004). IUCN red list of threatened species. A global species assessment. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK, IUCN.
    4. Collins R. and Rutherford K. (2004). Modelling bacterial water quality in streams draining pastoral land. Water Research, 38(3): 700–712.
    5. Steinfeld, H. and Blackburn, H. (1997). Livestock and the environment: Finding a balance. Suffolk, UK, WREN media.
    6. De Wit, J., Van Keulen, H., van der Meer, H.G. and Nell, A.J. (1997). Animal manure: asset or liability? World Animal Review 88-1997/1, http://www.fao.org/docrep/w5256t/W5256t05.htm.
    7. Delgado, C., Rosegrant M., Steinfeld, H., Ehui, S. and Courbois, C. (1999). Livestock to 2020: The next food revolution. International Food Policy Research Institute, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and International Livestock Research Institute. IFPRI Food, Agriculture and the Environment Discussion Paper 28, Washington, D.C., pp 72.
    8. FAO and IFAD (2010). Background paper on agriculture and water’, prepared for UN World Water Development Report 4 (to be published in 2012), FAO and IFAD, Rome.
    10. FAO (2003). Presentation from the Area Wide Integration Project (LEAD), Bangkok Workshop, 23-26, July.
    11. Gerber, P. and Menzi, H. (2005). Nitrogen losses from intensive livestock farming systems in Southeast Asia: A review of current trends and mitigation options. International Congress Series, 1293: 225-345.
    12. Gerber, P. and Steinfeld, H. (2006). Regional planning or pollution control: policy options addressing livestock waste, with reference to industrial pig production in Thailand.
    13. Gill, M., Smith, P. and Wilkinson, J. M. (2010). Mitigating climate change: the role of domestic livestock. Animal, 4:323–333.
    14. Hooda, P.S., Edwards, A.C., Anderson, H.A. and Miller, A. (2000). A review of water quality concerns in livestock farming areas. The Science of the Total Environment, 250(1&3):143–167.
    15. IPCC (2002). Climate change and biodiversity. Edited by H. Gitay, A. Suárez, R. T. Watson & D. J. Dokken. IPCC Technical Paper V.
    16. IPCC (2007). Climate Change: Synthesis Report; Summary for Policymakers. Available: http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/ assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr_spm.pdf.
    17. IUCN (2000). IUCN Guidelines for the prevention of biodiversity loss caused by alien invasive species. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
    18. Knox, J. W., Weatherhead, E. K., Rodríguez Díaz, J. A. and Kay, M. G. (2009). Developing a strategy to improve irrigation efficiency in a temperate climate: a case study in England. Outlook on Agriculture, 38(4):303–309.
    19. Kristjanson, P. (2009). The role of livestock in poverty pathways. Proceedings of Animal Nutrition Association World Conference, 14-17 February 2009, New Delhi, India. pp 37-40.
    20. Livestock-environment interactions. Available at www.smallstock.info/issues/environment.htm
    21. MEA (2005). Ecosystems and human well-being: biodiversity synthesis, Washington, DC, World Resources Institute.
    22. Naylor, R., Steinfeld, H., Falcon, W., Galloway, J., Smil, V., Bradford, E., Alder, J. and Mooney, H. (2005). Losing the links between livestock and land. Science, 310: 1621–1622.
    23. NOAA (2006). Trends in atmospheric carbon dioxide. NOAA/Earth System Research Laboratory, Global Monitoring Division.
    24. Pallas, Ph. (1986). Water for animals. Land and Water Development Division, FAO. (Available at www.fao. org/ docrep/R7488E/R7488E00.htm).
    25. RAMSAR (2005). The Ramsar Convention on wetlands: Background papers on wetland values and functions, (Available at http://www.ramsar.org/info/values_ intro_e.htm).
    26. Siegenthaler, U., Stocker, T.F., Monnin, E., Lüthi, D., Schwander, J., Stauffer, B., Raynaud, D., Barnola, J., Fischer, H., Masson-Delmotte, V. and Jouzel, J. (2005). Stable carbon cycle–climate relationship during the late pleistocene. Science, 310(5752): 1313–1317.
    27. Smith, P., Martino, D., Cai, Z., Gwary, D., Janzen, H., Kumar, P., McCarl, B., Ogle, S., O’Mara, F., Rice, C., Scholes, B. and Sirotenko, O. (2007). Agriculture’, in Metz, B., Davidson, O. R., Bosch, P. R., Dave, R. and Meyer, L. A., eds, Climate Change 2007: Mitigation. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York.
    28. Smith, P., Martino, D., Cai, Z., Gwary, D., Janzen, H., Kumar, P., McCarl, B., Ogle, S., O’Mara, F., Rice, C., Scholes, B., Sirotenko, O., Howden, M., McAllister, T., Pan, G., Romanenkov, V., Schneider, U., Towprayoon, S., Wattenbach, M. and Smith, J. (2008). Greenhouse gas mitigation in agriculture. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 363:789–813.
    29. Steinfeld, H., Gerber, P., Wassenaar, T., Castel, V., Rosales, M., De Haan, C. (2006). Livestock’s Long Shadow: environmental issues and options. FAO, Rome, Italy.
    30. Stoate, C., Boatman, N.D., Borralho, R.J., Carvalho, C.R., Snoo, G.R.D. and Eden, P. (2001). Ecological impacts of arable intensification in Europe. Journal of Environmental Management, 63(4): 337–365.
    31. Thomas, C.D., Cameron, A., Green, R.E., Bakkenes, M., Beaumont, L.J., Collingham, Y.C., Erasmus, B.F.N., Ferreira de Siqueira, M., Grainger, A., Lee Hannah, Hughes, L., Huntley, B., van Jaarsveld, A.S., Midgley, G.F., Miles, L., Ortega-Huerta, M.A., Peterson, A.T., Phillips, O.L. and Williams, S.E. (2004). Extinction risk from climate change. Nature, 427: 145–148.
    32. Tilman, D., Fargione, J., Wolff, B., D’Antonio, C., Dobson, A., Howarth, R., Schindler, D., Schlesinger, W.H., Simberloff, D. and Swackhamer, D. (2001). Forecasting agriculturally driven global environmental change. Science, 292(5515): 281–284.
    34. Van Aardenne, J.A., Dentener, F.J., Olivier, J.G.J., Klein Goldewijk, C.G.M. and J. Lelieveld. (2001). A high resolution dataset of historical anthropogenic trace gas emissions for the period 1890–1990. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 15(4): 909–928.
    35. Whitmore, A.P. (2000). Impact of livestock on soil. Sustainable Animal Production, (Available at http:// www.agriculture.de/acms1/conf6/ws4lives.htm).
    36. World Resource Institute (2005). EarthTrends: The Environmental Information Portal. (Available at http:// www.earthtrends.wri.org.Accessed10/12/2005).
    37. Zimmer, D. and Renault, D. (2003). Virtual water in food production and global trade: review of methodological issues and preliminary results. Proceedings of the expert meeting held 12–13 December 2002, Delft, the Netherlands. Editor Arjen Hoekstra, Delft, the Netherlands, UNESCO-IHE.
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