Carbon emission occurs during various stages of life cycle of food products. Greenhouse gases (GHG) emission from 24 Indian food items showed that animal food products (meat and milk) and rice cultivation mostly contributed to methane (CH4) emission, while food products from crops contributed to emission of nitrous oxide (N2O). Emission of CO2 occurred during farm operations, production of farm inputs, transport, processing and preparation of food.

Anthropogenic activities are responsible for the enhanced emission of reactive nitrogenous species like nitrous oxide (N2O), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and ammonia (NH3) into the atmosphere from the biosphere. This article reviews the available estimates of emissions of these reactive nitrogenous species for India.