LCA Food 2012 in Saint Malo, France! - Manifestations et colloques ...

PARALLEL SESSION 1A: WATER FOOTPRINT 8 th Int. Conference on LCA in the
Agri-Food Sector, 1-4 Oct 2012
3.2. Water Footprint accounting of organic vs. non-organic strawberry farming
Non-organic and organic strawberry farming were analysed in this study. The production site is located in
Bulgaria. Its extension is 47 ha; 34 ha are dedicated to the production of organic strawberries that are used to
produce the organic strawberry jam; 13 ha are dedicated to the production of non-organic strawberries used
for other products. Both of the productions are irrigated (drip irrigation) and open air. The two farming
methods differ only on fertilisers and pesticides. Table 2 reports the main characteristics of the farming.
Table 2. Main characteristics of the product under study
Fruit Planting Harvesting Yield (ton/ha)
Organic strawberries July year 1 June year 2 20
Non-organic strawberries July year 1 June year 2 26
The green and blue water footprint of the crops are obtained using CROPWAT model (Allen et al., 1998;
FAO, 2009). Climate data are obtained from a climate station located in the field. Crop parameters were obtained
from Allen et al., (Allen et al., 1998). Yield data were obtained from site records. All data were used
in CROPWAT to obtain the crop water use of organic and non-organic strawberries. According to the model
presented by Mila I canals and Ridoutt (Mila I canals et al., 2009; Ridoutt et al., 2009), primary data of irrigation
water volume were used.
The grey water footprint of non-organic farming took into consideration the impact of the use of chemical
(such as fertilisers and pesticides). In the case of organic farming according to EU regulation (EC, 2007)
only natural fertiliser are used (compost). Data on the quantity and quality of fertilisers were given directly
by the Italian company. The leaching rate is taken from literature and assumed to be 10% with a N limit of
10 mg/l (Ercin et al., 2012). In the case of organic farming, nitrogen from compost contributed to grey water
footprint, phosphorus resulted negligible. Table 3 reports the blue, green and grey water footprint of the two
farming.
Table 3. Water Footprint accounting of organic and non-organic farming
Non-organic farming Organic farming
Green water (l/kg) 90.7 117.9
Blue water (l/kg) 98.1 127.5
Grey water (l/kg) 40 2.5
Total (l/kg) 228.8 247.9
3.3. Water Footprint of the 330g organic Strawberry Jam
The product water footprint accounting of a 330g organic strawberry jam was then quantified by summing
the water used for all the raw materials, ancillary materials and processes included in the study. The
blue, green and grey water of these processes were also quantified: washing, sorting and freezing of the
strawberries in Bulgaria; transportation of the strawberries to Site 1 in Italy were the jam production processes
take place; farming of organic apples and pulping processes; production of pectin; transportation of
apple and pectin to Site 1; production of primary and secondary packaging and their transport to Site 1 and
Site 2; filling and packaging processes; transportation of end-product to the Site 2 for distribution. The water
footprint accounting of energy mix used in the processes is also quantified using the method developed by
Mila I Canals (Mila I Canals et al., 2009). The water footprint accounting relevant to the processes of production
site waste management, secondary distribution, product use and end of life are not included.
All data on the materials and processes considered in the study are obtained directly from the food company
and its suppliers. All the factories have waste-treatment plants that discharge water with effluent characteristics
below the legal limits. Therefore it is assumed that grey water footprint is equal to zero. The green
water of wood and paper based products used as primary (labelling) and secondary packaging material was
assessed.
Water accounting indicator result were characterised using WSI. Therefore the Product Water Footprint
resulted to be 88.4 l. Table 4 shows the water footprint of the 330g organic Strawberry jam
47