REVIEW REPORT FOR NEW ZEALAND
IV.  Agriculture 

A.  Sector overview 

58. In 2004, emissions from the agriculture sector in New Zealand amounted to 37,349.63 Gg CO₂ equivalent, or 49.7 per cent of the total national GHG emissions.  The agriculture sector is the largest source of emissions in the country.  During the period 1990–2004 the emissions from the sector increased by 14.9 per cent, mainly owing to increases in CH₄ emissions from enteric fermentation and N₂O emissions from agricultural soils.  Because rice cultivation does not occur in New Zealand, the notation key “NO” has been used.  For the enteric fermentation and manure management categories, buffalo, camel, llama, mule and ass populations are reported in the CRF tables as “NE” and the CRF documentation box explains that, on the basis of the last agriculture census, they make up less than 0.05 per cent of the total livestock in New Zealand.

59. All basic agricultural AD for emissions estimations are obtained from Statistics New Zealand.  These AD have a very high quality, as shown in the uncertainty analysis.  The ERT had the opportunity to verify this during the in-country review.

60. The information presented in the CRF tables is transparent and consistent, but not all the additional information tables and relevant documentation boxes in the CRF are filled in.  In some cases there is an inappropriate use of notation keys, for example the amount of Volatile substance in animal manure is reported as “NA” for important categories, although it is the main driver for CH₄ emissions from manure; and in others there is some missing information, for example the fraction of crop residue burned (Frac_BURN) is reported as “0” although emissions from burning of agricultural residues are occurring in the country.  These minor problems do no affect the emissions estimates which for the major sources have a high scientific standard.