Tropical Agriculture in Transition - Opportunities for Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions? / Edition 1

by Reiner Wassmann, Paul L.G. Vlek

Overview

Production from tropical agricultural systems will need to increase to satisfy the rising food demand of an increasing population coupled with changes in consumption patterns. At the same time, the agricultural sector is a significant source of greenhouse gases (GHG) in many developing countries, which can be attributed mainly to land-use change and methane emissions from rice and livesk. But how can we reconcile less GHG emissions from tropical agricultural systems while increasing productivity?

Due to the interactive nature of these issues, this book is compiled of articles on natural resource management, as well as the socio-economic aspects of GHG mitigation. The scope of mitigation options in tropical agriculture is discussed for three different activities: (a) agroforestry; (b) rice-based production systems; (c) pasture/animal husbandry.

Agronomic solutions alone will not be sufficient, as the institutional and economic frameworks within which farmers operate dictate whether a recommended agronomic management practice is acceptable. The prevention of deforestation, and the re-forestation of degraded land, could become key elements to national climate protection programs of some developing countries. Alternative management practices in rice-based and pasture systems may offer win-win options to reduce emissions and improve resource-use efficiencies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781402014222
Publisher:	Springer Netherlands
Publication date:	11/30/2003
Edition description:	2004
Pages:	277
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.39(d)

Table of Contents

Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Tropical Agriculture: Scope and Research Priorities.- Methane and Nitrogen Oxide Fluxes in Tropical Agricultural Soils: Sources, Sinks and Mechanisms.- Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Tropical and Temperate Agriculture: the Need for a Full-Cost Accounting of Global Warming Potentials.- Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Rice—Wheat Cropping Systems in Asia.- Is it Possible to Mitigate Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Pastoral Ecosystems of the Tropics?.- Implications of Land Use Change to Introduced Pastures on Carbon Sks in the Central Lowlands of Tropical South America.- Estimation of Soil Carbon Gains Upon Improved Management within Croplands and Grasslands of Africa.- Mitigating GHG Emissions in the Humid Tropics: Case Studies from the Alternatives to Slash-and-Burn Program (ASB).- An Amazon Perspective on the Forest—Climate Connection: Opportunity for Climate Mitigation, Conservation and Development?.- Soil Respiration and Carbon Storage of an Acrisol under Forest and Different Cultivations in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil.- The Clean Development Mechanism: Making it Operational.- Energy Use and CO2 Production in Tropical Agriculture and Means and Strategies for Reduction or Mitigation.- GHG Mitigation Potential and Cost in Tropical Forestry — Relative Role for Agroforestry.- Climate Variability and Deforestation—Reforestation Dynamics in the Philippines.