AUTHOR=de Vries Marion , Zahra Windi Al , Wouters Adriaan P. , van Middelaar Corina E. , Oosting Simon J. , Tiesnamurti Bess , Vellinga Theun V. TITLE=Entry Points for Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Small-Scale Dairy Farms: Looking Beyond Milk Yield Increase JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems VOLUME=3 YEAR=2019 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00049 DOI=10.3389/fsufs.2019.00049 ISSN=2571-581X ABSTRACT=
Increasing milk yield per cow is considered a promising climate change mitigation strategy for small-scale dairy farms in developing countries. As it can be difficult to increase cow productivity, mitigation options beyond this production strategy need to be identified. The aim of this study was to identify entry points for mitigation of GHG emissions in small-scale dairy farms in Lembang Sub-district, West Java, Indonesia. Data on herd composition, productivity, feeding, and manure management were collected in a survey of 300 randomly selected dairy farms. Characteristics of farms with the 25% lowest (<3291 kg milk/cow/y), medium 50% (3291–4975 kg milk/cow/y), and 25% highest milk yields (≥4976 kg milk/cow/y) were compared. Life cycle assessment was then performed to estimate the cradle-to-farm gate GHG emission intensity (EI) of farms. The relationship between EI and milk yield per cow for all farms was modeled and farms with an EI below and above their predicted EI were compared (“low” and “high” EI farms). Results showed that milk yield explained 57% of the variance in EI among farms. Farms with medium and high milk yields were more often specialized farms, fed more tofu waste and compound feed, and had higher feed costs than farms with low milk yields (