High yield ag cuts greenhouse gases

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

According to a Stanford University study, advances in high-yield agriculture in the last part of the 20th century have prevented the equivalent of 590 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from reaching the atmosphere. The researchers estimate that, but for increased yields, additional greenhouse gas emissions from land clearing would have equalled one third of all emissions since the Industrial Revolution began in 1850.

Anther finding in the study published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: for every dollar spent on agricultural research and development since 1961, GHG emissions were reduced by the equivalent of about a quarter of a ton of carbon dioxide.

"The striking thing is that all of these climate benefits were not the explicit intention of historical investments in agriculture. This was simply a side benefit of efforts to feed the world," lead author Jennifer Burney noted in a press release. BF