Increased use of fossil fuels for inputs (mechanization, fertilizers and agro-chemicals) - Policy Pressures and Policy Options

The policy pressures that contribute to the environmental problems from increased use of fossil fuels for inputs (mechanization, fertilizers and agro-chemicals) include

- Economies of scale that encourage the use of sizeable quantities of fossil fuels which generate large volumes of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)
- The separation of production and processing away from areas of demand necessitating the transport of inputs and products
- Inappropriate input and output pricing policies including import/export schemes, price support policies and subsidies
- Inappropriate or non-existent regulatory policies that fail to respect local natural resource management and environmental needs
- Inappropriate financial policies on various inputs, exchange rate and import/export policies

Policy options that can lessen the environmental risks from increased use of fossil fuels for inputs leading to increased greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) include

- Environmental regulation:

- a wide range of both international and domestic policy and market mechanism strategies are available (see Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Fossil Fuels and Taxes):
- International collaborative policies include emission trading mechanisms, compensatory financing, carbon taxes, preferential technology transfer, the creation of carbon sinks and joint implementation
- Domestic policy options include carbon and energy taxes, limiting or banning the use of certain highly polluting fossil fuels and improvements in the management of GHG emissions based on the principle of the polluter pays

- Regional policies, both national and international, aimed at the greater integration of feed crop production with industrial animal production
- Regulatory policies to reduce the level of emissions including safe minimum standards
- Zoning policies to encourage location close to areas of input production and product consumption with the establishment of infrastructure to handle emissions
- Adapting pricing, subsidy and taxation policies to ensure recovery of full cost of goods and services
- Investment incentives/transitional subsidies to encourage improvements in infrastructure to reduce emissions and to encourage feed processors to move quickly to new minimum standards
- Encouragement of R & D to both limit emissions and increase their utilisation.

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