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Government invests in reducing greenhouse gas emissions on-farm

October 24, 2012 -  The Institut de recherche et de developpement en agroenvironnement (IRDA) has received an investment of $350,000 from the Canadian government to develop cost-effective tools for measuring greenhouse gas emissions on the farm.

The IRDA will use the investment to develop and optimize cost-effective, easy-to-use scientific tools that measure nitrous oxide and methane emissions on the farm. These tools will require little expertise to operate and will be readily available to producers who want to make informed decisions about which beneficial management practices will work best on their operation.

"The Research and Development Institute for the Agri-Environment (IRDA) has been working for a number of years to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture," says Gisele Grandbois, the IRDA's President and Chief Executive Officer. "For farmers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, a robust and affordable technique for measuring emissions on farms is required. As part of this AAFC-supported project, the IRDA is planning to complete the development of a sampling device that will provide a low-cost method of measuring a farm's greenhouse gas emissions."

This project is supported through the Agricultural Greenhouse Gases Program (AGGP), a five-year, $27-million initiative that focuses on the development of on-farm greenhouse gas mitigation technologies. The AGGP will provide funding to various partners across Canada to investigate innovative mechanisms, tools, and approaches that provide real solutions for the agriculture sector.

The AGGP is Canada's initial contribution to the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases, an international network of more than 30 member-countries that coordinates and increases agricultural research on greenhouse gas mitigation and makes new mitigation technologies and beneficial management practices available to farmers. In June 2012, Canada was officially named Council Chair of the Alliance for 2012-13. For more information on the Global Research Alliance, visit www.globalresearchalliance.org.

October 24, 2012  By Marketwire


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