Methane Emission Factor in Italian Mediterranean Buffalo According to Production Management

The environmental impact of greenhouse gases caused by livestock farms plays a fundamental role due to the implications and environmental consequences that livestock practices entail, affecting the stability of the entire ecosystem connected to them, especially as a consequence of the growing demand for products of animal origin.

The aim of this work was to quantify the CH4 emissions factor in lactating buffaloes by comparing four different types of livestock management: family, conventional, organic and sustainable.

To determine the enteric CH4 emissions from buffalo, information about animal production and farm management was analyzed, and the CH4 emission factor was calculated using the IPCC Tier 2 model.

ANOVA was conducted to evaluate significant differences between the farms; Pearson’s correlation was used to evaluate the relationship between parameters.

In a conventional farm, the CH4 emission factor for buffalo was 27.69 kg CH4/head/yr compared to 22.77 and 21.61 kg CH4/head/yr respectively for organic and family-run. These data may also depend on the higher protein and fiber content in the administered unifeed. Furthermore, the ratio of enteric emissions factor of CH4 / gross energy intake ratio reflected these data (12.04 vs 10.93 vs 10.16 vs 10.65 for conventional, organic, sustainable, and family-run farms, respectively).