India eyes seaweed to cut methane-filled bovine burps in climate change fight

New Delhi: Indian cows and buffalos may be put on a diet of seaweed to tackle the problem of bovine burps–the methane-emitting scourge in the fight against climate change. 

Red seaweeds are a well-known diet supplement to control fatulence among ruminants–animals such as cows, buffalos, sheep and deer–that feed on grass. When the grass breaks down in their stomach, the fermentation process produces methane. 

Methane is a major greenhouse gas (GHG) that contributes to climate change. About 30% of the planet's methane production comes from cattle. A single cow can burp out 99 kg of methane every year.

India is home to 303 million cattle (19.5% of the global cattle population, the world's largest), 112 million buffalos (54.6% of the global buffalo population), 150 million goats and 75 million sheep, according to the ministry of animal husbandry and dairying.

The government plans to tackle this problem by adding red seaweed, which is rich in protein and found in abundance along the country’s 7,600km coastline, to cattle feed.

The development assumes significance given that livestock emissions from burps and manure account for around a third of methane emissions.

This also comes against the backdrop of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC’s) 198 countries agreeing to submit their next round of national climate action plans—valid until 2030—by February or before the next big climate summit in Brazil next year.

“Seaweed at present is not a major source of animal feed and fodder, and DDGS (distiller's dried grains with solubles) has a toxin issue. There is a variant of red seaweed that has some nutritional value and some effect on methane emissions, and we are planning to include it to cattle feed. It is a nascent thing,” one of the officials said. 

"This will be an addition to the existing feed.”

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Seaweeds have been utilized as livestock feed for thousands of years, with renewed interest since the 1960s after Norway began producing seaweed meal from kelp.

Seaweeds are valuable alternative feeds, primarily because of their rich nutritional content, including organic source of chelated micro-minerals, complex carbohydrates with prebiotic properties and polyunsaturated fatty acids.

The spokesperson of the animal husbandry and dairying ministry confirmed that the ministry is looking at seaweed as a potential source of livestock feed.

“Given the 60-70% increase in demand of animal products by 2050, livestock farming is expected to face a significant challenge in meeting feed demands,” the spokesperson said.

“This challenge is compounded by land degradation, food-fuel-feed competition, population growth, water scarcity and ongoing climate change. Expanding the feed resource base through the identification of novel feeds will be crucial for the sustainable development of the livestock sector,” the ministry spokesperson added. 

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“Integrating seaweed into livestock diets will not only address environmental sustainability but also align with consumer demand for more eco-friendly farming practices.”

The other official said they are not sure of how much quantity will be safe to be given to animals. “If you give a little more than 5%, animals get sick. So, we are working out which form it could be given to livestock animals, the quantity and how much effect it will have on methane emissions,” the official said.

“As part of the plan, agencies like Kochi University are researching on it in collaboration with some others,” the official added.

“We have different breeds of cattle in India; some are of foreign origin. The impact is not going to be similar in all the breeds. Generalizing seaweed reducing methane emission by 20-30% is not correct. These are the initial stages of research being done, and I need to have more comprehensive research before we start doing large-scale feeding of seaweed to cattle,” Chandra Bhushan, CEO of International Forum for Environment, Sustainability & Technology (iForest) said.

“We also have to look at economics because our cattle are largely free range and not like American or European which are in ranches,” Bhushan added.

NDDB is exploring possibilities of collaborating with Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) and Gujarat Life Sciences (GLS), so that algal formulations or their extracts can be identified for their methane mitigation potential. 

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