Slashing NO2 emissions from coal plants near Indian farmlands could prevent $800 million in annual crop losses, crucial for India’s food security
Eliminating the nitrogen oxide emanating from coal plants up to 100 kilometers (roughly 62 miles) away from crop fields will boost the rice production by $420 million and wheat by $400 million annually, according to a new study by Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability researchers.
In many parts of India, nitrogen oxide emissions from coal-fired power stations reduce annual wheat and rice yields by 10% or more, the study revealed. Wheat and rice are essential to food security in India, which is both the second most populous country in the world and home to a quarter of all undernourished people globally.
“It’s rare to find a single thing – in this case, reducing coal emissions – that would help agriculture so quickly and so much,” said senior study author David Lobell, the Benjamin M. Page Professor in the Doerr School of Sustainability’s Earth System Science Department.
The environmental impact of nitrogen pollution is outlined in a report published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States on January 20. The report states that humans add around 150 teragrammes (Tg) of reactive nitrogen to the Earth’s land surface each year through agriculture and industry which is more than double the pre-industrial rate. Experts warn that, due to climate change, this rate could further escalate to about 600 Tg per year by 2100, leading to greater nitrogen loss into the environment and further ecological disruption.
A Dutch court’s ruling on January 22, ordered the Netherlands government to cut its nitrogen emissions by 2030. This ruling may have significant consequences for both construction and agriculture, pressurising farmers to reduce livestock, reported Reuters. Agriculture, particularly livestock farming, plays a crucial role in the Netherlands’ nitrogen emissions.
Besides contributing to climate change, nitrogen fertilisers also pollute water bodies. It’s time for India to take this wake-up call seriously and overhaul cropping systems and agricultural practices.