# How much methane does the manure of one dairy cow or buffalo give off in India under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Tier 1 tables?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/dairy-manure-methane-per-cow-and-buffalo-india-ipcc

Table 10.14 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2006 Guidelines gives the Indian Subcontinent 5 kilograms (kg) of manure methane (CH4) per dairy cow a year, 4 to 5 kg per buffalo and 2 kg per other cattle. These sit far below digestion methane because almost none of the cow manure (1%) is stored as slurry.

## The Indian Subcontinent row

- Dairy cows: 5 kg CH4 per head per year at annual average temperatures up to 26 degrees Celsius, and 6 at 27 degrees and above.
- Other cattle: 2 kg at every temperature.
- Buffalo: 4 kg at 14 degrees and below, and 5 kg from 15 degrees up.
- The table gives an uncertainty of 30 per cent for these factors.

## Why the row is so low

The table describes the region as one where about half of cattle and buffalo manure is used for fuel, with the remainder managed in dry systems. The supporting table for dairy cows (Table 10A-4) assumes 51% of manure burned for fuel, 27% left on pasture, range or paddock, 19% spread daily, 1% in liquid or slurry and 1% in a digester. Those printed shares add to 99%.

No slurry means no high conversion factor. Burned dung cakes use 10%, which is still about seven times lower than 71% for slurry, and they make up most of the 5 kg. The 10% applies to the field-drying stage; the emissions from burning go under Fuel Combustion or Waste Incineration. The answer on dairy manure methane from a slurry pit or dry heap shows the arithmetic and what changes if your shed stores dung as slurry.

## Pick the row that matches your manure handling

The same table has an Asia row, which assumes 38% of dairy cow manure in liquid or slurry. At 26 degrees it gives 28 kg per dairy cow, against 5 in the Indian Subcontinent row. The table footnote says to select the region that most closely matches your manure systems. A farm that dries dung cakes and spreads daily matches the Indian Subcontinent row. A farm with a slurry pit does not, and should use the Tier 2 method.

## Dung cakes are not manure methane

When sun-dried dung cakes are burned for fuel, the guide says the emissions of the burning are reported under the IPCC category Fuel Combustion if the dung is used as fuel, and under Waste Incineration if it is burned without energy recovery. Keep that out of the manure methane line.

## 200 dairy cows and 100 buffalo, annual average 26 degrees Celsius

- Manure methane: 200 x 5 = 1,000 kg CH4 for cows, plus 100 x 5 = 500 kg for buffalo, total 1,500 kg
- In carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) at 27: 1,500 x 27 = 40,500 kg, about 40.5 tonnes
- Digestion methane for the same herd: 200 x 58 = 11,600 kg plus 100 x 55 = 5,500 kg, total 17,100 kg
- Manure share of herd methane: 1,500 / (17,100 + 1,500) = 8.1%
- Wrong-row check: the Asia row would give 200 x 28 = 5,600 kg for the cows alone

Herd numbers are example values. The factor 27 is the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) 100-year warming potential for non-fossil methane. Nitrous oxide from manure is a separate line.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into emission records, so diesel for tractors and pumps and power for the milking shed and chilling tank show up once uploaded. The herd, manure and field figures on this page come from your own farm records.

- [Buffalo digestion methane per head](https://senseible.earth/answers/buffalo-enteric-methane-per-head-ipcc-tier-1)
- [Tier 2 manure methane: slurry or dry](https://senseible.earth/answers/dairy-shed-manure-methane-slurry-or-dry-ipcc-tier-2)
- [Dairy enteric methane in India](https://senseible.earth/answers/dairy-enteric-methane-emissions-india)
- [Dairy biogas plant carbon credits](https://senseible.earth/answers/dairy-biogas-plant-carbon-credits)

Sources: [IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 4, Chapter 10, Table 10.14, Table 10.18, Table 10.21 and Annex 10A.2 Table 10A-4](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/), [IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, Working Group I, Chapter 7, Table 7.15 (100-year global warming potential: methane of non-fossil origin 27.0, nitrous oxide 273)](https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/)

Last reviewed 2026-11-05. Tier 1 factors are from the 2006 edition and describe a region, not your shed. If dung is stored wet, use the Tier 2 answer.