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Red seaweed is a well-known dietary supplement for controlling obesity among ruminant animals – such as cows, buffalo, sheep and deer – that eat grass. When grass breaks down in their stomachs, 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 cow can belch 99 kg of methane every year.
According to the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, India is home to 303 million cattle (19.5 million of the global cattle population), 112 million buffalo (54.6% of the global buffalo population), 150 million goats and 75 million sheep. Dairy.
The government plans to tackle the problem by introducing red seaweed, which is rich in protein and is found in abundance along the country’s 7,600 km long coastline.
This development is significant given that livestock emissions from belching and manure account for about a third of methane emissions.
It also comes in the backdrop of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in which 198 countries have until February or before the next major climate summit in Brazil next year to submit their next round of national climate action plans – valid until 2030. But have agreed.
“Currently seaweed is not a major source of animal feed and feed, and there is a toxin issue in DDGS (distiller’s dried grains with solubles). There is a type of red seaweed that has some nutritional value and some effect on methane emissions, and we are planning to include it in cattle feed. “This is a new thing,” said an official.
“This will be an addition to the existing feed.”
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Seaweed has been used as animal feed for thousands of years, with renewed interest since the 1960s when Norway began producing seaweed meal from kelp.
Seaweeds are valuable alternative feeds, primarily due to their rich nutritional content, including organic sources of chelated micro minerals, complex carbohydrates with prebiotic properties and polyunsaturated fatty acids.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Dairying confirmed that the ministry is looking at seaweed as a potential source of livestock feed.
“Given a 60-70% increase in demand for 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-fodder competition, population growth, water scarcity and ongoing climate change. Expanding the feed resource base through identification of new feeds will be important for the sustainable development of the livestock sector, the ministry spokesperson said.
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“Integrating seaweed into livestock diets will not only address environmental sustainability, but will also be in line with consumer demand for more eco-friendly farming practices.”
Another official said they were not sure what dose would be safe to give to the animals. “If you give a little more than 5%, the animals get sick. So, we are working on in what form it can be given to livestock animals, in what quantity and what impact it will have on methane emissions,” the official said.
“As part of the plan, agencies like Kochi University along with some others are doing research on it,” the official said.
“In India we have different breeds of cattle; Some are of foreign origin. Its effect will not be the same on all breeds. The generalization that seaweed can reduce methane emissions by 20-30% is not correct. “These are early stages of research and more extensive research is needed before we can feed seaweed to cattle on a large scale,” said Chandra Bhushan, CEO of the International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology (iForest).
“We also have to look at the economics because our cattle are largely free range and not like Americans or Europeans who are on farms,” Bhushan said.
NDDB is exploring collaboration with Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) and Gujarat Life Sciences (GLS) to identify algal formulations or their extracts for methane mitigation potential.
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