This report contributes to the project “Financing Low Emissions Agriculture,” led by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). The project aims to analyze financial options and gather empirical evidence to build business cases for supporting transitions to low emissions agriculture in developing countries. Ultimately the project seeks to inform investment in agricultural development and the mitigation of agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
This report focuses on nitrogen (N) fertilizer management impacts on the mitigation of GHG emissions in cereal production (maize, rice, and wheat) in India and Mexico, countries with significant potential for growth in fertilizer- related emissions. The rationale for focusing the analysis on these three crops is that together they account for 60% of global N fertilizer use.
The report is organized as follows: The approach used to undertake this study is described, followed by a brief background section that provides an overview of agricultural production in India and Mexico, including size of the sector and its GHG impact. The third section describes several N fertilizer technologies, their emissions reduction potential, and corresponding implementation costs and benefits. The report concludes with comments and recommendations