Assessing and mitigating India's agricultural emissions: A regional and temporal perspective on crop residue, tillage, and livestock contributions

In India, agricultural emissions affect regional air quality and climate change, driven by the extensive cultivation of arable land, large livestock population, and widespread crop residue burning (CRB). Existing emission inventories (EIs) predominantly focus on macro-scale CRB and livestock emissions, with limited attention to particulate matter (PM) emissions from tillage activities. This study develops an updated EI for CRB, tillage, and livestock across multiple pollutants at 0.1° × 0.1° spatial and monthly temporal resolution for 2018–2019. Using field survey data from 102 districts, tillage emissions contributed 583 Gg of PM₁₀ and 278 Gg of PM_2.5, with 87 % from 10 states. CRB emissions, modeled using fire radiative energy and open burning proportion correlations (R² > 0.7), show that rice, wheat, sugarcane, and maize account for 73–89 % of total emissions. Livestock emissions, derived using updated India-specific emission factors, reveal NH₃ emissions of 3.4 Tg, with cattle and buffalo contributing 91 % of CH₄. Tillage and livestock emissions peaked between May-July. Indo Gangetic Plain dominates CRB emissions (peak in October-November). Mitigation strategies demonstrate remarkable potential (up to 44 %), with zero tillage reducing PM by 17 % (25 % adoption), sustainable residue management cutting emissions by 36–45 %, and dietary interventions lower methane by 12 %.