Bumbiere, K.; Meikulane, E.; Gravelsins, A.; Pubule, J.; Blumberga, D. Progress of the Agricultural Sector toward Climate Neutrality: Identification of Essential Stages. Sustainability2023, 15, 11136.
Bumbiere, K.; Meikulane, E.; Gravelsins, A.; Pubule, J.; Blumberga, D. Progress of the Agricultural Sector toward Climate Neutrality: Identification of Essential Stages. Sustainability 2023, 15, 11136.
Bumbiere, K.; Meikulane, E.; Gravelsins, A.; Pubule, J.; Blumberga, D. Progress of the Agricultural Sector toward Climate Neutrality: Identification of Essential Stages. Sustainability2023, 15, 11136.
Bumbiere, K.; Meikulane, E.; Gravelsins, A.; Pubule, J.; Blumberga, D. Progress of the Agricultural Sector toward Climate Neutrality: Identification of Essential Stages. Sustainability 2023, 15, 11136.
Abstract
The agricultural sector's progress towards climate neutrality is of great importance not only in the climate but also in the economic and social context. The agricultural sector is the 3rd largest emission-generating sector both in Latvia and Europe, and it directly and/or indirectly affects all other sectors. Climate-neutral agriculture is highly dependent on innovations that ensure maximum efficient farming, which not only reduces emissions but also ensures competitiveness in the market, but all of this is fundamentally influenced by well considered policies. Although the goals of the Green Deal are united, each country's situation must be thoughtfully considered individually to evaluate the best action plan for integrating the EU's common agricultural policy without reducing harvest. In addition, due to the complicated structure of the sector, it tends to be very difficult or even impossible to determine the real obstacles and mistakes that delay the progress of sustainable farming. Therefore, this research aims to create a system dynamics model using Latvia as a case study, which would not only provide an insight into the system’s structure but also identify the system's weak links and allow for the development of recommendations. The results could help policymakers in any country to make rational, non-controversial decisions simultaneously in the context of economic and Green Deal objectives. The results of the study demonstrate that to increase economic competitiveness and reduce emissions in agriculture, the most important aspect is the ability to invest in innovations and new technologies that would achieve not only the lowest emissions, but also the highest productivity and competitiveness in the market. It was found that by investing in the level of manure management it is possible to reduce GHG emissions in dairy farming by 8%, while by improving feed quality, manure management and thermoregulation all together, resulted in 60% GHG emission reduction. In addition, in a comprehensive improvement of the new innovations, the case study company managed to increase milk yield by 69%.
Keywords
Agriculture; Climate Neutrality; System Dynamics, Innovations, Sustainability, GHG emissions, Policy
Subject
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Environmental Science
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
