How does agriculture affect climate change? The question is often answered too narrowly, as if farming were only about tractors, crops and smoke from burning fields. The reality is more complicated.

Agriculture is where the climate crisis becomes visible in ordinary life. It is present in the wheat used for bread, the rice cooked in homes, the milk poured into tea, the vegetables moving through markets and the cotton stitched into clothing. But agriculture is not only affected by a warming planet. It also helps warm it.

This does not mean farmers are the problem. Most farmers, especially smallholders in countries such as Pakistan, are managing risks they did not create alone. The real issue is the larger food system: how land is used, how animals are raised, how soils are fertilized, how forests are cleared, how food is processed, and how waste is handled.

That system now sits at the centre of the climate debate.

How Does Agriculture Affect Climate Change?

Agriculture affects climate change by releasing greenhouse gases, changing how land stores carbon, and shaping the energy and water demands of food production.

The three most important gases are carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. Carbon dioxide is released when forests or grasslands are converted into farmland, when farm machinery burns fuel, and when food is processed or transported. Methane comes mainly from livestock, manure and flooded rice fields. Nitrous oxide is released from soils when nitrogen fertilizers and manure are used.

The Food and Agriculture Organization says agrifood systems account for about one-third of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, with global agrifood emissions reaching 16.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2023.

That figure matters because it shows that climate change is not only an energy story. Coal, oil and gas remain central drivers of warming, but food production is also part of the same atmospheric equation.

The Problem Is Not Food, But How Food Is Produced

Food itself is not the problem. People need to eat, farmers need livelihoods, and countries need reliable food supplies.

The climate question is how food is produced.

A field of wheat, a herd of cattle, a rice paddy and a fruit orchard do not affect the climate in the same way. Their emissions depend on soil, water, fertilizer, animal feed, irrigation, energy use and land history. A crop grown on existing farmland with efficient water and fertilizer use has a very different climate footprint from a crop grown after forest clearance.

This is why agriculture cannot be judged as one single activity. It is a system of many decisions.

Some decisions happen on farms. Others happen far away from farmers, in fertilizer factories, supply chains, supermarkets, trade policies and consumer markets.

Livestock and Methane

Livestock is one of agriculture’s most important climate links.

Cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats produce methane during digestion. This process, known as enteric fermentation, is natural, but its climate significance grows when livestock populations expand and production systems become more resource-intensive. Manure can also release methane and nitrous oxide, depending on how it is stored and managed.

Methane does not remain in the atmosphere as long as carbon dioxide, but it traps heat very strongly over shorter time periods. That makes livestock emissions especially important for near-term warming.

This is also where climate policy becomes socially sensitive. In Pakistan and many other countries, livestock is not merely an industry. It is savings, nutrition, status, labour support and income security for rural households. Any serious discussion must therefore avoid easy slogans. The goal is not to blame pastoral families or small farmers, but to improve feed, animal health, manure management and productivity so fewer emissions are produced per litre of milk or kilogram of meat.

Pakistan’s livestock sector is a clear example. FAO notes that Pakistan’s 2024 Biennial Transparency Report identifies the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use sector as accounting for 47 percent of national emissions, with livestock a major contributor, particularly through methane from digestion and manure management.

Fertilizers, Soil and Nitrous Oxide

The second major pathway is fertilizer.

Modern farming depends heavily on nitrogen. Used well, nitrogen helps crops grow and supports food security. Used inefficiently, it becomes costly for farmers and damaging for the climate.

When nitrogen fertilizer or manure is applied to fields, soil microbes can convert part of that nitrogen into nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide is a powerful greenhouse gas. It is also easy to overlook because it is invisible, released slowly from soil rather than from a chimney or exhaust pipe.

This is one reason climate-smart agriculture is not only about new seeds or solar pumps. It is also about better timing, better soil testing, balanced fertilizer use and advice that reaches farmers before decisions are made.

For a farmer, wasted fertilizer is wasted money. For the climate, it is wasted nitrogen entering the atmosphere. Good farm management can reduce both losses at once.

Rice Fields and Flooded Soils

Rice carries another climate story.

Traditional flooded rice fields create low-oxygen conditions in soil. Under those conditions, microbes produce methane. This does not mean rice should disappear from diets or fields. It means rice cultivation methods matter.

In many rice-growing regions, techniques such as alternate wetting and drying can reduce methane emissions while saving water, though results depend on local soils, irrigation control and farmer support. The larger lesson is simple: the climate impact of agriculture often lies not in the crop alone, but in the way the crop is grown.

For Pakistan, this is especially relevant because rice is both a food crop and an export crop. Changing rice practices cannot be treated as a small technical adjustment. It affects water use, farmer income, export earnings and food habits.

Land Use Is the Quiet Climate Question

Agriculture also affects climate change through land.

Forests, wetlands and grasslands store carbon in trees, roots and soils. When these landscapes are cleared for crops or pasture, carbon is released and future carbon storage is reduced. This is why land-use change is one of the most important climate links in the food system.

The IPCC estimates that agriculture, forestry and other land use accounted for about 22 percent of global net human-caused greenhouse gas emissions in 2019.

This does not mean all farming is destructive. Well-managed soils, agroforestry, restored degraded land and improved grazing can help store carbon and improve resilience. But land is limited. Every choice about land carries a climate consequence.

A field is never only a field. It is part of a water system, a soil system, a food system and a carbon system.

Why This Matters for Pakistan

In Pakistan, agriculture sits at the intersection of climate vulnerability and climate responsibility.

Farmers are already facing hotter growing seasons, shifting rainfall, pest pressure and water stress. TCL has previously reported how spring heatwaves, erratic monsoons and changing pest patterns are reshaping Pakistan’s farming calendar.

The Indus River system adds another layer. It sustains farmland, cities, hydropower and coastal communities, but it is under pressure from glacial melt, ageing canals, pollution and water demand.

This means Pakistan cannot treat agriculture only as an emissions sector. It is also a livelihoods sector, a food security sector and a water sector.

For small farmers, the climate question is not abstract. It appears as a delayed monsoon, a failed wheat harvest, a pest outbreak, a fertilizer bill, a tube-well running longer, or a market price that does not cover the cost of production.

That is why climate action in agriculture must be fair. It should help farmers adapt while reducing emissions, not place new burdens on those already carrying the heaviest risks.

What Better Agriculture Looks Like

A better agricultural future does not require one miracle solution.

It requires many practical improvements working together: more efficient fertilizer use, better irrigation, improved livestock feed, manure management, soil health, crop diversification, reduced food loss, climate-resilient seeds and stronger advisory services.

Some solutions reduce emissions. Others help farmers survive climate stress. The best ones do both.

For example, improving soil health can support crop yields while helping soils retain more moisture. Better irrigation can reduce water waste and energy demand. Healthier animals can produce more with fewer emissions per unit of food. Reducing food loss means fewer resources are wasted growing food that never reaches a plate.

The important point is that agriculture can be part of the climate solution only if farmers are treated as partners, not targets.

The Food on Our Plate Is Part of a Larger System

How does agriculture affect climate change? It affects it through the gases released from animals, soils, rice fields, land conversion, machinery, supply chains and waste. But that answer is only the beginning.

The deeper answer is that agriculture reveals how closely climate change is tied to daily life.

The climate crisis is not separate from breakfast, markets, rural debt, water canals, cooking oil prices, milk supply or the wheat harvest. It is woven into the systems that keep societies fed.

A serious climate conversation must therefore move beyond the idea that agriculture is only a victim of changing weather. It is also one of the places where better choices can reshape the future.

Not through blame.

Through understanding.

Because the way we grow food is also the way we decide what kind of climate we are willing to live with.