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

GROUP 2, SESSION A: CARBON OR WATER FOOTPRINTS, SOIL, BIODIVERSITY 8 th Int. Conference on LCA in the
Agri-Food Sector, 1-4 Oct 2012
51. Carbon footprint of organic crop production in Sweden
Christel Cederberg * , Magdalena Wallman, Maria Berglund, Jenny Gustavsson
SIK – The Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology, Sustainable Food Production, Box 5401, SE-402
29 Göteborg, Sweden, Corresponding author. E-mail: Christel.Cederberg@sik.se
The aim of the study was to assess the carbon footprint (CF) of Swedish organic crop production, and to
explore the need of better statistics on organic crop production to improve environmental system analyses.
The CF of organic crop production was compared to conventional production when possible. Improvements
were suggested on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from organic cultivation. The analyses were
based on five organic crop rotations reflecting the current situation on organic farms with typical operations
(milk and arable farms) in three regions in Sweden. In this study the whole crop rotation was included in the
environmental analysis since organic nitrogen applications and weed control is managed over the whole crop
rotation and not for an individual crop for a single year. There was a lack of reliable statistics; hence information
regarding crop rotations, yields, fertiliser management etc. was collected in cooperation with agronomic
advisors. Statistics were used for geographic allocation of different crops and the use of organic fertiliser
products to reflect the current Swedish situation. Greenhouse gas emissions were estimated according to
IPCC (2006) and the functional unit was 1 kg crop at farm gate/farm storage.
The CF per kg organic crop was mainly affected by yield levels and nitrogen management strategy. High
yield levels combined with moderate applications of organic fertiliser reduced the CF for organic cereal
crops. Organic silage production (grass and clover) production had a lower CF than conventional silage due
to relatively high yield levels and good crop management. An individual crop’s sequence in a given crop
rotation had also a substantial influence on the overall CF. The distribution of nitrogen emissions between
individual crops in the rotation must be considered. In this study, the allocation was made between the nitrogen
fixing crop and the subsequent crops as the N fixing crops are cultivated to provide other crops with
nitrogen. Crop rotational effects are more evident in organic agriculture than in conventional and therefore
there is a need to develop a uniform methodology to estimate the CF of organic production.
References
Cederberg, C., Wallman, M., Berglund, M., Gustavsson, J. 2011. Klimatavtryck av ekologiska jordbruksprodukter
[In Swedish; Carbon footprint of organic crop production]. Report 830, SIK – The Swedish Institute
for Food and Biotechnology, Göteborg.
IPCC. 2006. 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. Vol. 4. Agriculture, Forestry
and Other Land Use. Chapter 11. N2O Emissions from Managed Soils, and CO2 Emissions from Lime
and Urea Application. http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol4.html
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