Carbon and water footprints of major crop production in India

Scarcity of water and emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the two key environmental issues affecting crop production in India. Reducing the carbon footprint (CF) and water footprint (WF) of crop production can help to mitigate the environmental hazards that stem from GHG emissions and water scarcity. The CFs and WFs of three major cereal crops, rice, wheat, and maize, were estimated for the year 2014 under the environmental conditions in India, based on national statistics and other data sources. Total CFs (TCFs) of rice, wheat, and maize in India were estimated to be 2.44, 1.27, and 0.80 t CO2 equivalent ha−1, respectively, and product WFs for rice, wheat, and maize in India were 3.52, 1.59, and 2.06 m3 kg−1, respectively. Blue WF was found to be the highest in West India for rice and in South India for both wheat and maize, with the highest irrigation water use in these regions. There was a positive correlation between TCF and total WF, and hence mitigation of both was possibly simultaneous in various regions in India. Potential measures for mitigating GHG emissions and optimizing water use for rice, wheat, and maize production in India are recommended in this paper.