By Xinhua
Wellington : New Zealand and Australian scientists are to carry out a joint study to find ways of reducing the impact of livestock methane emissions by examining more about the digestive processes in the rumen of livestock, a minister said Tuesday.
The first collaborative project by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Livestock Industries (CLI), the livestock industries division of Australia’s national science agency, and AgResearch, New Zealand’s biggest Crown Research Institute, will jointly fund the research.
“The Labour-led government recognises that research and innovation go hand in hand, but research also requires investment. The revenue generated by the nine Crown Research Institutes is of the magnitude of 600 million NZ dollars ($480 million),” said New Zealand’s Research, Science and Technology Minister Pete Hodgson.
“The key to this research is to better understand the digestive processes of livestock and gain more efficiency in their nutrition thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions of methane and nitrous oxide. I am very supportive of this work,” said Hodgson.
CLI and AgResearch are providing funding to support two post-doctoral scientists for two years, including funding to facilitate communication and travel between the two research teams.