We are urgently developing research requirements with other European laboratories to make sure we understand and the disease (Schmallenberg) better.Scots’ CO2 targets are up with best in world
SCOTLAND has one of the most ambitious targets for the reduction of greenhouse gases of any country in the world, said SAC’s Carole Christian.
The key target set by the Scottish Government is of an 80 per cent reduction by 2050 and 42 per cent by 2020. The Government could have the option of a lower 34 per cent for 2020 subject to agreement in Copenhagen, but it was widely expected that Scotland would stay with its higher 42 per cent target, she said.
These reductions were based on 1990 levels of greenhouse gas emissions. The Scottish target is only exceeded by President Obama’s US target of 83 per cent.
Well on target
She added a combination of better management of farm wastes and fertilisers, plus reduced livestock numbers, especially sheep numbers, mean the Scottish agricultural sector was already well on the way to meet these targets.
She also said the best ways of delivering slurry and anaerobic digestates to the land was by the use of the trailing shoe or injector systems which placed the material near the plant root systems.
At Sorbie Farm, the heavy, wet nature of the land means these systems could not be used because of the size and weight of the equipment used.
