Effect of fertilizer on methane and nitrous oxide emissions from rice-cropping system at two locations of Indo-Gangetic region of western Uttar Pradesh, India

Agriculture soils of any country significantly contribute to the greenhouse effect primarily through the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG’S) like methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2). The climate change risk in Asia may impact Indo-Gangetic plains (IGP) which may be affected greatly by the melting of Himalayan glaciers. The dominant land use by farming community in the IGP is rice-wheat cropping system. CH4 emission depends on crop, growth season, fertilizer application and prevailing environmental conditions of the region. Various agricultural soils, climate and farm management practices control the CH4 and N2O emissions. CH4 and N2O from rice fields are prominent greenhouse gases which are emitted from paddy fields. The present investigation was carried out through close chamber techniques to find out the variation in CH4 and N2O fluxes at two different locations of IGP region during 2012. The value of CH4 flux (Kg ha-1 d-1) from rice crop varied from 0.348 to 1.343 at Chachula and 3.794 to 13.686 at Meerapur while the flux (g ha-1d-1) varied from 0.30 to 7.9 at Chachula and 0.60 to 8.5 at Meerapur for N2O respectively. Appropriate application of fertilizer and irrigation in lowland rice field also decrease nitrous oxide emission. It is observed that the emissions of CH4 as well as that of N2O are increased with the application of commercial fertilizer in both the locations of Chachula and Meerapur from western Uttar Pradesh of Indo-Gangetic region. Statistical comparisons of CH4 and N2O flux were also performed with one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).