Software helps cut Indian cows’ methane emissions

[NEW DELHI] A software tool developed by India’s国家乳业发展委员会（NDDB）is helping balance the diets of 2.4 million heads of Indian cattle leading to increased milk output and reduced methane emissions, an international livestock conference heard.

The software tool, called关于动物生产力和健康的信息网络（构图）, was presented at the annualGlobal Agenda for Sustainable Livestock Meetingheld at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia this month (11—15 June) by Vinod Ahuja, a policy officer at theFood and Agriculture Organization。

Overall, the programme has helped reduce entericmethane emissionsby 12—15 per cent while raising the average dailyincomes的农民Ahuja说，每天每只动物的0.37美元。

“对于在最佳条件下饲养的正常健康牛，饲料管理是检查排放的最佳方法”

N. Raghuram

“印度采用的实践会产生可衡量的影响，尤其是在减少的肠子排放和增加农民的收入方面，” Ahuja告诉scidev.net。

Methane from India’slivestock人口是世界上最大的人口，可以显着提高全球温度学习，一月出版生态毒理学和环境安全beplay足球体育的微博。它说，作为温室气体，甲烷具有二氧化碳潜力的20倍。

INAPH calculates optimal feed mixes for each of 2.4 million animals in more than 30,000 villages, with a local resource person trained to use the software and provide advisory services to farmers. Factored into the software tool are the type of food, weight of the animal and fat content in its milk.

Rajesh Sharma, senior manager at the NDDB headquarters in Anand, Gujarat state, says that the purpose behind rationing and balancing the diet of cows was to make dairying sustainable. “Unless it is useful to farmers in a tangible way, it won’t be attractive. Now they get more fat content in their milk, along with reduced expenses on feed and fodder.”

根据夏尔马（Sharma）的说法，由世界银行资助的计划于2010年首次启动，目前涵盖印度29个州中的18个州，依赖于咨询服务的门口提供。

Sharma说，根据软件的帮助，根据不同类型的饲料和饲料的可用性进行调整，以确保始终保持蛋白质，能量，矿物质和维生素的平衡。

“确实，除了他们的饮食，体重和新陈代谢外，牛产生的肠气，尿液和粪便直接相关健康and living conditions,” says N. Raghuram, dean at the School of Biotechnology,Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha大学， 新德里。“对于在最佳条件下饲养的正常健康牛来说，饲料管理是检查排放的最佳方法。”

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Asia & Pacific desk.