A review on reduction of greenhouse gas emission from ruminants through nutritional strategies

Accepted 11^th October, 2013

Shigdaf Mekuriaw^{1, 2}*, Firew Tegegn² and Alemayehu Mengistu<sup>3

1</sup>Andassa Livestock Research Centre, P. O. Box 27, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
²Bahir Dar University, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, P. O. Box 79, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
³Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Science, Biology Department P. O. Box Urael Branch, 62291, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
*Corresponding author. E-mail: shigdafmekuriaw@yahoo.com.

Greenhouse gas mitigation has become a major topic of discussion at international, national and local levels, with strategies being developed to reduce emissions. The possibility of man-made releases of GHG’s possibly contributing to climate change has been the key driver in the push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with many people, including prominent scientists and world leaders concerned about the potential changes to the environment. This concern about greenhouse gases has resulted in a variety of research targeted towards mitigating emissions from all sectors. Current research in some areas indicates that improving the production process by making it more efficient not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions but improves the economics because there is less waste products. The emission of greenhouse gases, notably of methane, by domestic animals and possible ways of reduction has been the subject of many international studies in recent years. Methane mitigation in ruminants is possible through various strategies. Today, the feeding management approach is the most developed. The sustainability of methane suppressing strategies is an important issue. This review has identified a number of feeding strategies that will result in reduced methane emissions from ruminants such as the feeding of highly digestible forages, concentrates, diet manipulation to provide alternate hydrogen acceptors, inclusion of legumes in forage mixtures, inclusion of supplemental fats in diets and diet manipulation to shift the fermentation pathway. From the review, we can conclude that it is important to adopt those strategies based on their potential on methane reduction as well as, environmentally friendly. The choice of application primarily depends on the cost associated with it.

Key words: Methane, ruminant, greenhouse gas, climate change, enteric fermentation.