The first manual for farmers and foresters on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will be available to Chinese users soon, a US environmental protection NGO announced in Beijing on Monday.

The guide explains how farmers and foresters can reduce emissions of gases such as methane and nitrous oxide by making alterations to land use and farming practices, said David Yarnold, executive vice president of Environmental Defense, a non-profit, nongovernmental organization.

Environmental Defense, which has been working in China on a series of environmental policy innovations since 1997, developed the guide in collaboration with Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, and many American scientists

Zhang Jianyu, who is in charge of the project in China, said burning stalks, improper tilling methods and usage of chemical fertilizers can produce greenhouse gas, which accounted for 25 percent of total emissions from annual fossil fuel consumed by the country.

Curbing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions is much easier than reducing industrial greenhouse gas, said Zhang.

"We know land-use practices give us more options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the next 20 to 30 years," said deputy chief of China's Xinjiang Environment Protection Bureau Wang Lianshe.

"But more importantly, these practices can also help us achieve environmental benefits such as reduced water consumption and air pollution, and the new income stream through the sale of these carbon reductions can also help us fight poverty, which is still a major concern in places as remote as Xinjiang," said Wang.

Yarnold said, "We are deeply encouraged by China's efforts to meet energy-saving targets, as revealed in the most recent China National Climate Change Program, because they not only help the country improve its environment, but also demonstrate its willingness to work with other countries to solve a global problem."

(Xinhua News Agency June 19, 2007)