WELLINGTON, April 29 -- New Zealand scientists have made a breakthrough that could lead to greenhouse gas emissions from sheep and cattle being cut by 30 percent to 90 percent without cutting production, the government announced Wednesday.

This breakthrough in methane inhibitors was made by researchers working through the government's New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre and Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium, said Climate Change Issues Minister Tim Groser and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy.

"If successfully developed and commercialized, the new findings offer the potential to fundamentally change New Zealand's emissions footprint in the long-term. It could also provide a technology with substantial value for tackling global agricultural emissions," Guy said in a statement.

"There is still work to do to develop a safe, commercially- viable solution. The substances developed are non-toxic, but researchers now need to establish if they are effective over the long-term without adverse side-effects on animals, and ensuring food safety."

That process could take at least five years.

"Currently, there are no options available to directly reduce livestock methane emissions other than reducing stock numbers, making it particularly challenging to reduce emissions from this sector," he said.

Livestock methane was New Zealand's single largest greenhouse gas emissions source, making up 35 percent of its total emissions in 2013, Groser said in the statement.

New Zealand was also one of the leading countries in the 45- nation Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases ( GRA) and funding and collaboration with Australia, Japan and the United States under the GRA had a real impact in making the breakthrough.