Lotus, bovine food against global warming

One of the biggest protein reserves for human diet, beef cattle, contributes directly to the global warming problem and the degradation of the ecosystems.

However, the solution is not avoiding beef and milk! According to researcher Édgar Cárdenas, a zootechnician expert in forage (grass eaten by cows), almost all human consumption affects the balance of the environment. For this reason, it is important to make sure that all food is produced efficiently and ecologically.

In the case of cattle industry, the answer is not reducing the number of heads of cattle, but improving animal production. Thus, instead of having a cow that produces ten liters of milk, it is possible to have one that produces 20 or 25 liters, eating the same amount of forage.

According to the results of a study carried out by professor Cárdenas in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Husbandry at Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogota, this is possible just by changing the diet of the animals generating benefits in three ways: for stockbreeders, the environment and the cattle. It is a special forage that his research group has successfully tested in cattle "a leguminous plant that will be describe later", which is an exquisite diet for their palatals.

A trace in the environment

Have you ever thought about what is behind a delicious beef or a creamy glass of milk"

According to Cárdenas, the process to obtain one kilo of meat demands 15 cubic meters of water "close to 15 tons", while the production of one glass of milk of 200 milliliters requires 200 liters of water.

Cattle industry produces 13% of the global warming gases. From this number, 90% are gases such as nitrous oxide and methane. It is important to consider that one molecule of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere has a global warming potential 296 times bigger than one molecule of CO₂ (carbon dioxide), while one molecule of methane has 23 times more potential.

On the other hand, 65% of the soil for cattle farming is fertilized with nitrogen products, one of the substances that most affect the environment, especially water sources.

For this reason, the challenges for the cattle industry are big: maintaining the production of meat and milk during the whole year to minimize the nutritional unbalance that exists in the world population, and reduce the environmental impact, affirms Cárdenas.

He mentioned that "human population is about 6 trillion people, and in 2050, this number will be 9 trillion. Meat consumption will go from 229 million tons (2000) to the double in 2050. Same will happen to milk: currently, the consumption of this product is 580 million tons, and in 2050 it will be one thousand tons."

From the environmental perspective, the challenge is reducing the pressure on fragile ecosystems, minimizing and improving fertilization "with nitrogen or phosphate, used in grass" and, the most important, reducing polluting emissions of those gases that cattle produces due to the fermentation of food in their stomach. In fact, flatulencies, breathing and burping of cattle contribute to global warming, the emission of gases such as methane and stool decomposition and urine release ammoniac and nitrous oxide.

The expert mentioned that in Colombia there are 24 million heads of cattle, being the ninth country with the highest stock in the world. The goal of the union is to increase that number, which is not convenient "affirms", due to the global warming effects.

Magnificent vegetable

Lotus, a small leguminous plant, arises as a nutritional alternative for reducing the emissions of cattle from high lands such as Sabana de Bogotá. It is prodigious from all points of view; however, it has just one "defect": its slow growth. After several research studies made by undergraduate and postgraduate students, several properties have been detected and identified.

This vegetable, when eaten by cattle, considerably reduces nitrogenous emissions in the urine and the subsequent generation of N₂O (nitrous oxide); likewise, it reduces the emissions of CH₄ (methane). Cárdenas affirms that this happens since the protein in the diet of cattle is absorbed by the animal"s intestine, instead of degrading (as it happens with other diets). At the same time, methanogenesis is reduced, that means, methane formation due to intervention of intestinal microbes.

Lotus also counts on tannins, secondary metabolites (chemical compounds synthesized by the plants) responsible for a better production and quality of milk. The experiments performed for more than 13 years, supported by Minagricultura, associations and cattle unions, proved that, due to forage consumption, mixed with kikuyu grass and without nitrogenous fermentation, production of milked increases 18% in comparison with traditional grass consumption.

"Kikuyu is a type of grass that needs fertilization with nitrogenous, 400 kilos in a year per hectare. In contrast, Lotus takes it from the environment and fixes it in its tissues," asserted the investigator. This is important data considering that only 35% of the urea (nitrogenous fertilizer) that is used in the plant is captured by the plant itself. The rest pollutes the environment, especially water sources.

It was also proved that the milk of cattle fed with Lotus has 14% more protein and 11% more fat. In addition, the plant is resistant to extreme cold weather, retains the humidity of the soil, resists the stress of cattle footprints and spreads properly once it establishes the terrain.

One month ago, when Lotus was introduced to society, around 600 stockbreeders from Sabana of Bogotá were astonished, although for some this was not new. Édgar Cárdenas explains that this leguminous plant is from New Zealand and it was brought to the country by stockbreeders more than 30 years ago, but it was not conceived as a food option.

"Lotus seed takes between eight and nine months to spread in the terrain, and if it is transplanted, it takes between four and six months, depending on the fertility and humidity of the soil. Meanwhile, stockbreeders want grass similar to ryegrasso, which is ready in 70 days."

How to convince the sector" Just with something as simple as being competitive. The researcher form Universidad Nacional de Colombia explains that international markets demand products that do not significantly affect the environment; otherwise, they close their doors. Switzerland, Swiss and New Zealand aim at protecting the environment and demand their providers to do it too. As a result, Universidad Nacional de Colombia contributes to improve sustainability and competitiveness, protecting the environment and participating in new markets.