IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i2p627-d308885.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Life Cycle Assessment of Iberian Traditional Pig Production System in Spain

Author

Listed:
  • Javier García-Gudiño

    (Animal Welfare Program, Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology—IRTA, 17121 Monells, Spain)

  • Alessandra N. T. R. Monteiro

    (PEGASE, INRAE, Agrocampus Ouest, 35590 Saint-Gilles, France)

  • Sandrine Espagnol

    (IFIP, Institut du porc, 35651 Le Rheu, France)

  • Isabel Blanco-Penedo

    (Department of Clinical Sciences, SLU, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden)

  • Florence Garcia-Launay

    (PEGASE, INRAE, Agrocampus Ouest, 35590 Saint-Gilles, France)

Abstract

Traditional Iberian pig production is characterized by outdoor systems that produce animals fed with natural resources. The aim of this study was to assess the environmental impacts of such systems through Life Cycle Assessment. Environmental impacts were analysed per kilogram of live weight at farm gate. Iberian pig production in montanera had the lowest impacts for climate change (CC), acidification (AC), eutrophication (EU) and cumulative energy demand (CED), being 3.4 kg CO 2 eq, 0.091 molc H + eq, 0.046 kg PO 4 3− eq, and 20.7 MJ, respectively, due to the strict use of natural resources (acorns and grass) during the fattening period. As Iberian farms had a greater dependence on compound feed in cebo campo , environmental impacts on CC, AC, EU and CED were 22, 17, 95 and 28% higher, respectively, than with montanera . For land occupation (LO), however, cebo campo had a lower impact (31.6 m 2 ·year) than montanera (43.0 m 2 ·year) system. Traditional Iberian pig production systems have environmental impacts higher than conventional systems studied in literature but are similar to other traditional systems. Based on the present assessment, it is necessary to account for the contribution of emissions resulting from the consumption of natural resources to avoid the underestimation of environmental impacts.

Suggested Citation

  • Javier García-Gudiño & Alessandra N. T. R. Monteiro & Sandrine Espagnol & Isabel Blanco-Penedo & Florence Garcia-Launay, 2020. "Life Cycle Assessment of Iberian Traditional Pig Production System in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:2:p:627-:d:308885
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/2/627/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/2/627/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stanley, Paige L. & Rowntree, Jason E. & Beede, David K. & DeLonge, Marcia S. & Hamm, Michael W., 2018. "Impacts of soil carbon sequestration on life cycle greenhouse gas emissions in Midwestern USA beef finishing systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 249-258.
    2. van der Werf, Hayo M. G. & Petit, Jean & Sanders, Joost, 2005. "The environmental impacts of the production of concentrated feed: the case of pig feed in Bretagne," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 153-177, February.
    3. Pelletier, N. & Lammers, P. & Stender, D. & Pirog, R., 2010. "Life cycle assessment of high- and low-profitability commodity and deep-bedded niche swine production systems in the Upper Midwestern United States," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 103(9), pages 599-608, November.
    4. Gwendolyn Rudolph & Stefan Hörtenhuber & Davide Bochicchio & Gillian Butler & Roland Brandhofer & Sabine Dippel & Jean Yves Dourmad & Sandra Edwards & Barbara Früh & Matthias Meier & Armelle Prunier &, 2018. "Effect of Three Husbandry Systems on Environmental Impact of Organic Pigs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-20, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mayra L. Pazmiño & Angel D. Ramirez, 2021. "Life Cycle Assessment as a Methodological Framework for the Evaluation of the Environmental Sustainability of Pig and Pork Production in Ecuador," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-21, October.
    2. Benedetta Esposito & Maria Rosaria Sessa & Daniela Sica & Ornella Malandrino, 2020. "Towards Circular Economy in the Agri-Food Sector. A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-21, September.
    3. Javier García-Gudiño & Elena Angón & Isabel Blanco-Penedo & Florence Garcia-Launay & José Perea, 2022. "Targeting Environmental and Technical Parameters through Eco-Efficiency Criteria for Iberian Pig Farms in the dehesa Ecosystem," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, December.
    4. Mario Rafael Giraldi-Díaz & Eduardo Castillo-González & Lorena De Medina-Salas & Raúl Velásquez-De la Cruz & Héctor Daniel Huerta-Silva, 2021. "Environmental Impacts Associated with Intensive Production in Pig Farms in Mexico through Life Cycle Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-20, October.
    5. Antonia Katharina Ruckli & Sabine Dippel & Nora Durec & Monika Gebska & Jonathan Guy & Juliane Helmerichs & Christine Leeb & Herman Vermeer & Stefan Hörtenhuber, 2021. "Environmental Sustainability Assessment of Pig Farms in Selected European Countries: Combining LCA and Key Performance Indicators for Biodiversity Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-19, October.
    6. Dolores Ayuso & Ana González & Francisco Peña & Francisco I. Hernández-García & Mercedes Izquierdo, 2020. "Effect of Fattening Period Length on Intramuscular and Subcutaneous Fatty Acid Profiles in Iberian Pigs Finished in the Montanera Sustainable System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-12, September.
    7. Miguel Vigil & Maria Pedrosa Laza & Henar Moran-Palacios & JV Alvarez Cabal, 2020. "Optimizing the Environmental Profile of Fresh-Cut Produce: Life Cycle Assessment of Novel Decontamination and Sanitation Techniques," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-17, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stefan J. Hörtenhuber & Günther Schauberger & Christian Mikovits & Martin Schönhart & Johannes Baumgartner & Knut Niebuhr & Martin Piringer & Ivonne Anders & Konrad Andre & Isabel Hennig-Pauka & Werne, 2020. "The Effect of Climate Change-Induced Temperature Increase on Performance and Environmental Impact of Intensive Pig Production Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-17, November.
    2. McGee, M. & Lenehan, C. & Crosson, P. & O'Riordan, E.G. & Kelly, A.K. & Moran, L. & Moloney, A.P., 2022. "Performance, meat quality, profitability, and greenhouse gas emissions of suckler bulls from pasture-based compared to an indoor high-concentrate weanling-to-beef finishing system," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    3. Gwendolyn Rudolph & Stefan Hörtenhuber & Davide Bochicchio & Gillian Butler & Roland Brandhofer & Sabine Dippel & Jean Yves Dourmad & Sandra Edwards & Barbara Früh & Matthias Meier & Armelle Prunier &, 2018. "Effect of Three Husbandry Systems on Environmental Impact of Organic Pigs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-20, October.
    4. Thorn, Alexandra M. & Baker, Michael J. & Peters, Christian J., 2021. "Estimating biological capacity for grass-finished ruminant meat production in New England and New York," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    5. Fabiellen C. Pereira & Stuart Charters & Carol M. S. Smith & Thomas M. R. Maxwell & Pablo Gregorini, 2023. "A Geospatial Modelling Approach to Assess the Capability of High-Country Stations in Delivering Ecosystem Services," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-18, June.
    6. Ludvík Friebel & Jana Friebelová & Naděžda Kernerová, 2016. "Stochastic Analysis of Profitability of the Pig Breeding Process," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 64(1), pages 255-264.
    7. Ilkka Leinonen, 2019. "Achieving Environmentally Sustainable Livestock Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-5, January.
    8. Clifford, McKenna E. & McKendree, Melissa G.S. & Hodbod, Jennifer & Swanson, Janice C., 2020. "Adaptive Multi-Paddock Grazing: Cattle Producer Survey Results," Staff Paper Series 307453, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    9. Bardsley, Nicholas, 2021. "Recent Advances in Biofarming Show Potential for Rapid Soil Restoration, with Carbon, Health and Livelihoods Benefits," MPRA Paper 121184, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Vogel, Everton & Beber, Caetano Luiz, 2021. "Sustainable Intensification Strategies for GHG Mitigation Among Heterogeneous Dairy Farms in Paraná, Brazil," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315219, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    11. Hoang, Viet-Ngu & Rao, D.S. Prasada, 2010. "Measuring and decomposing sustainable efficiency in agricultural production: A cumulative exergy balance approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 1765-1776, July.
    12. Subash Dahal & Dorcas Franklin & Anish Subedi & Miguel Cabrera & Dennis Hancock & Kishan Mahmud & Laura Ney & Cheolwoo Park & Deepak Mishra, 2020. "Strategic Grazing in Beef-Pastures for Improved Soil Health and Reduced Runoff-Nitrate-A Step towards Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-15, January.
    13. Mario Rafael Giraldi-Díaz & Eduardo Castillo-González & Lorena De Medina-Salas & Raúl Velásquez-De la Cruz & Héctor Daniel Huerta-Silva, 2021. "Environmental Impacts Associated with Intensive Production in Pig Farms in Mexico through Life Cycle Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-20, October.
    14. Antonia Katharina Ruckli & Sabine Dippel & Nora Durec & Monika Gebska & Jonathan Guy & Juliane Helmerichs & Christine Leeb & Herman Vermeer & Stefan Hörtenhuber, 2021. "Environmental Sustainability Assessment of Pig Farms in Selected European Countries: Combining LCA and Key Performance Indicators for Biodiversity Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-19, October.
    15. Leinonen, Ilkka & Williams, Adrian G. & Waller, Anthony H. & Kyriazakis, Ilias, 2013. "Comparing the environmental impacts of alternative protein crops in poultry diets: The consequences of uncertainty," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 33-42.
    16. Ann Norderhaug & Karina E. Clemmensen & Paul Kardol & Anna Gudrun Thorhallsdottir & Iulie Aslaksen, 2023. "Carbon sequestration potential and the multiple functions of Nordic grasslands," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 176(5), pages 1-13, May.
    17. Oishi, Kazato & Kato, Yohei & Ogino, Akifumi & Hirooka, Hiroyuki, 2013. "Economic and environmental impacts of changes in culling parity of cows and diet composition in Japanese beef cow–calf production systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 95-103.
    18. Cécile M. Godde & Imke J. M. Boer & Erasmus zu Ermgassen & Mario Herrero & Corina E. Middelaar & Adrian Muller & Elin Röös & Christian Schader & Pete Smith & Hannah H. E. Zanten & Tara Garnett, 2020. "Soil carbon sequestration in grazing systems: managing expectations," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 161(3), pages 385-391, August.
    19. Yue Wang & Imke J. M. Boer & U. Martin Persson & Raimon Ripoll-Bosch & Christel Cederberg & Pierre J. Gerber & Pete Smith & Corina E. Middelaar, 2023. "Risk to rely on soil carbon sequestration to offset global ruminant emissions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    20. Camelia Teodorescu & Marin Burcea & Ana-Irina Lequeux-Dincă & Florentina-Cristina Merciu & Adrian-Nicolae Jipa & Laurenţiu-Ştefan Szemkovics, 2023. "Swine Breeding in the Villages of Vâlcea County, Oltenia (Romania)—Tradition or Necessity?," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-31, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:2:p:627-:d:308885. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.