Scholarly record

CONTRIBUTION OF ORGANIC SOILS TO AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AND GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IN LATVIA

Aleksejs Nipers

Abstract

Agricultural production is expected to increase in the world, which will be determined by the growing population and the rising demand for food, feed, fibre and energy. However, an increase in agricultural output could result in an increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the agricultural sector. In order to avoid it, emissions have to be ?decoupled? from agricultural production, i.e. it is necessary to decrease the GHG emissions per unit of agricultural production. This is particularly important for Latvia where GHG emissions from agriculture in 2015 accounted for 24.2% of the total emissions in the country, and this was one of the highest figures in the European Union (EU). The research found that the organic soil area totalled 378.4 thou. ha in Latvia in 2016. The research identified the kinds of agricultural products produced, the value of the products and the GHG emission intensity of the products in relation to organic soils. In Latvia, arable land and grassland management in the organic soil area produces 717-1731 N2O emissions, measured in CO2 equivalent. The research examined opportunities to reduce GHG emission intensity per unit of agricultural output from organic (hydromorphic) soils.

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