Methane Emission From Sheep

Abstract

Ruminant livestock can produce 250 to 500 L of methane per day. Many factors influence methane emissions from ruminant and include the following: level of feed intake, type of carbohydrate in the diet, feed processing, addition of lipids or ionophores to the diet, and alterations in the ruminal micro flora. On a global scale agriculture and in particular enteric fermentation in ruminants is reported to produce about one fourth (21 to 25%) of the total anthropogenic emissions of methane (CH4). Methane is produced during the anaerobic fermentation of hydrolyzed dietary carbohydrates in the rumen and represents an energy loss to the host besides contributing to emissions of greenhouse gases into the environment. However, there appears to be uncertainty in the CH4 estimation from livestock due to the limited availability of data to document the variability at the farm level and also due to the significant impact of diet on the enteric CH4 production. The methane mitigation strategies require robust prediction of emissions from rumen. There are many methods available which would be suitable for measuring CH4 produced from the various stages of animal production. However, several factors need to be considered in order to select the most appropriate technique like the cost, level of accuracy required and the scale and design of the experiments to be undertaken. We collected methane gas in polythene bag with bottle and estimated amount of gas by Gas Chromatography. Result shows highest emission 984.84 PPM at 1 pm after feeding and lowest emission 17.29 PPM at 9:30 am before feeding.