Agricultural land use and GHG emission in India and Turkey: A comparative trend analysis

Abstract

India and Turkey have a growing population to feed and supply as per the changing lifestyle. Land use efficiency is essential to minimize resource consumption and maximize production. The agriculture sector is one such domain where a high range of needs and wants of humans are met. Several agricultural reformations were adopted in India and Turkey between 1960-2017, which resulted in a rise in crop production and intensive consumption of agrochemicals and water. However, this came with the cost of the environment in elevated levels of greenhouse gas emissions. This study focuses on agricultural production and associated GHG emissions in two countries and comparative changes. The first part of the study found high variability in land use patterns in Turkey, while India gradually followed the demand-supply trend. In line with the gradual increment in land usage, the CO2 emissions from Indian agricultural production also observed a similar change pattern. Meanwhile, Turkey followed the reducing trend for two decades from 1990, then an increment was reported in 2013. It was also found that the process of enteric fermentation among animals is the single most contributor to agricultural emissions. Finally, a correlation study was carried out between arable land in Turkey and total agricultural GHG emission.