The impact of agricultural activities on climate change in BRICS countries and Türkiye

Agricultural activities have a significant impact on climate change due to greenhouse gases such as methane, CO2 and nitrous oxide. Agriculture in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries and Türkiye plays a crucial role in global production and contributes to feeding the population, ensuring food security and fighting hunger. Agriculture also has an important impact on environmental sustainability and climate change, as agricultural activities contribute directly to CO2 emissions. In this sense, agriculture is not only a locomotive for the economic development of the BRICS countries and Türkiye, but also important for controlling environmental degradation and ensuring sustainable growth. Therefore, the study examine the long-run effects of agricultural production, chemical fertilizers used to increase agricultural productivity, the mechanization in agriculture and the rural population on CO2 emissions for six countries including BRICS and Türkiye for the period 1961-2019 using the PMG-ARDL model. The estimated long-run coefficients show that agricultural mechanization and fertilizer use increase CO2 emissions, while agricultural production and rural population reduce emissions. It was also concluded that the expansion of agricultural land has no significant impact on CO2 emissions in the long run. The results of the Granger causality test by Dumitrescu and Hurlin (2012) also show that CO2 emissions are not Granger cause of agricultural land and agricultural production, but mechanization, fertilizer use and rural population have a causal effect on CO2 emissions. The results suggest that policy makers should adopt a balanced and environmentally friendly measures to the agricultural sector in order to ensure environmental sustainability and reduce the negative impacts of agricultural activities.