The Science of the total environmentSep 8, 2018

Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Water Use of Common Diets in India

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Mar 29, 2026

Abstract

The Rice & meat dietary pattern is associated with 0.77 kg CO2e/capita/day higher greenhouse gas emissions compared to the Rice & low diversity pattern.

Five distinct dietary patterns were identified in India: Rice & low diversity, Rice & fruit, Wheat & pulses, Wheat, rice & oils, and Rice & meat.
Rice-based dietary patterns exhibited higher greenhouse gas emissions and green water footprints, while wheat-based patterns had higher blue water footprints.
The Rice & meat pattern was linked to the highest environmental impacts overall, with significant increases in both greenhouse gas emissions and water usage compared to the reference pattern.
Green water footprint for the Rice & meat diet was 536 L/capita/day, while the blue water footprint was 109 L/capita/day higher than the Rice & low diversity diet.
Dietary shifts in India towards more diverse patterns, such as Rice & meat, could have substantial environmental consequences given the country's large population.

Simplified

Agriculture is a major contributor to India's environmental footprint, particularly through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from livestock and fresh water used for irrigation. These impacts are likely to increase in future as agriculture attempts to keep pace with India's growing population and changing dietary preferences. Within India there is considerable dietary variation, and this study therefore aimed to quantify the GHG emissions and water usage associated with distinct dietary patterns. Five distinct diets were identified from the Indian Migration Study - a large adult population sample in India - using finite mixture modelling. These were defined as: Rice & low diversity, Rice & fruit, Wheat & pulses, Wheat, rice & oils, Rice & meat. The GHG emissions of each dietary pattern were quantified based on a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach, and water use was quantified using Water Footprint (WF) data. Mixed-effects regression models quantified differences in the environmental impacts of the dietary patterns. There was substantial variability between diets: the rice-based patterns had higher associated GHG emissions and green WFs, but the wheat-based patterns had higher blue WFs. Regression modelling showed that the Rice & meat pattern had the highest environmental impacts overall, with 0.77 (95% CI 0.64-0.89) kg COe/capita/day (31%) higher emissions, 536 (95% CI 449-623) L/capita/day (24%) higher green WF and 109 (95% CI 85.9-133) L/capita/day (19%) higher blue WF than the reference Rice & low diversity pattern. Diets in India are likely to become more diverse with rising incomes, moving away from patterns such as the Rice & low diversity diet. Patterns such as the Rice & meat diet may become more common, and the environmental consequences of such changes could be substantial given the size of India's population. As global environmental stress increases, agricultural and nutrition policies must recognise the environmental impacts of potential future dietary changes. 2

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Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Water Use of Common Diets in India

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