District-Level Modeling of Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Footprints for the Agricultural Sector in India

Abstract

As one of the most populated countries in the world, India is a nation sprawling with agricultural activity to feed not only its population, but to also trade and bolster its economic prosperity. The rate at which India’s population is growing sets it on the track to become the most populated country in the world in the coming years, and its agricultural sector under strain to continue to produce crops, often with neglect to the consumption of high greenhouse gas emitting resources. Studies have examined the impacts from the agricultural sector, often at the national or statewide level, but few have done analyses on the district level, and even fewer have considered all implements of crop production in one comprehensive examination. Of particular interest are those emissions not only those directly from crop production and fertilizer application, but also more often overlooked, including fertilizer production, diesel use related to farm machinery operation, and electricity use that powers groundwater pumps for irrigation. This thesis compiles existing datasets that outline district characteristics and calculates the emissions from various districts throughout India to establish a methodology that may be implemented to pinpoint hotspot districts that may be using excessive resources and producing unnecessary and avoidable emissions, thereby allowing authorities to impose policy changes or regulatory measures to reduce the environmental impact.