Spatial and sectorial disaggregation of N2O emissions from agriculture in Belgium

In this study N2O emissions from agriculture in Belgium have been split up per agro-pedological region and calculated per farm type. The N2O emissions were calculated according to the `Revised 1996 IPCC guidelines for nationa l greenhouse gas inventories'. Input data were weighed averages of the N ba lance of a large number of farms per agro-pedological region and per farm t ype. As such, the input data represent a theoretical farm in each agro-pedo logical region and for each distinguished farm type. In a first part, N2O e missions were calculated for 10 agro-pedological regions in Belgium. The ye arly N2O emissions varied between 225 and 462 kg N2O-N. The highest N2O emi ssions (around 400 kg N2O-N yr(-1)) were found in regions with fertile soil s, dominated by crop production or a combination of crop production and cat tle breeding. The lowest emissions (around 250 kg N2O-N yr(-1)) were found in regions with extensive cattle breeding. N2O emissions of 300 +/- 15 kg N 2O-N yr(-1) were found in regions with less extensive cattle breeding or in regions with combinations of cattle, pig and poultry breeding. The N2O emi ssion per ha varied between 6 and 14 kg N2O-N yr(-1). In a second part, N2O emissions were calculated for 12 different farm types. The yearly N2O emis sions varied between 273 and 512 kg N2O-N. The highest emissions were found on farms with crop production or a combination of crop production and catt le breeding. The lowest emissions were found on farms specialised in only o ne activity of animal breeding. Specialised pig farms and farms with combin ations of cattle caused the greatest threat with respect to N2O releases fr om agriculture. Their N2O emission per ha was 18-40 kg N2O-N yr(-1), which was significantly higher than the average N2O release (10 kg N2O-N yr(-1) h a(-1)) for the other farm types.