IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i4p1418-d320668.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Eco-Efficiency in Measuring the Sustainable Production of Agricultural Crops

Author

Listed:
  • Rafał Baum

    (Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Department of Law and Enterprise Management in Agribusiness, Poznan University of Life Sciences, 60-637 Poznan, Poland)

  • Jerzy Bieńkowski

    (Institute for Agricultural and Forest Environment, Polish Academy of Sciences, 60-809 Poznan, Poland)

Abstract

Agriculture is one of the main factors with a direct impact on the natural environment (soil, water and air). An increased interest in the environmental impact of agricultural production results is due to—among other factors—significant human interference in the natural circulation of nutrients, posing a potential threat to the balance of ecosystems. Under current conditions, it is necessary to develop comprehensive diagnostic methods to control production processes in a way that would reduce costs and environmental burden throughout the product’s life cycle. Only a holistic approach that integrates environmental and economic analysis meets the criteria of analysis complexity, which is one of the main goals of methodical analysis of sustainable development. The article presents the results of the integrated environmental and economic assessment of selected crops. Maize and rapeseed production were assessed using the life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) methodologies. The analysis was carried out on farms representing plant- and animal-based farming types. The conclusion presented in the study was based on the data from a study group consisting of 69 private commercial farms located in two regions of Poland. The calculated carbon footprint of both of winter rape and grain maize production was found to be higher in animal farming types. Pig farming type presented the highest overall costs of these crops, based on the approach of the LCC. Inclusion of carbon sequestration to the assessment of greenhouse warming potential allowed for the reduction of the net global warming potential (GWP) impact associated with the production of the analyzed crops. In both crops, mineral fertilization was the main factor influencing both the total carbon footprint and the LCC.

Suggested Citation

  • Rafał Baum & Jerzy Bieńkowski, 2020. "Eco-Efficiency in Measuring the Sustainable Production of Agricultural Crops," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-12, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:4:p:1418-:d:320668
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1418/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1418/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dong, Gang & Mao, Xianqiang & Zhou, Ji & Zeng, An, 2013. "Carbon footprint accounting and dynamics and the driving forces of agricultural production in Zhejiang Province, China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 38-47.
    2. Jerzy Bie?kowski & Rafa? Baum & Ma?gorzata Holka, 2019. "Life cycle assessment and life cycle costing in measuring the eco-efficiency performance of winter rape production," Proceedings of International Academic Conferences 9811986, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.
    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. Rafal Baum & Jerzy Bienkowski & Malgorzata Holka, 2020. "Analysis of Sustainability Performance of Different Farming Types Using Life Cycle Approach," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 2), pages 148-167.
    2. Rafal Baum & Jerzy Bienkowski & Malgorzata Holka, 2020. "Analysis of Sustainability Performance of Different Farming Types Using Life Cycle Approach," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 2), pages 148-171.
    3. Grzelak Aleksander & Borychowski Michał & Staniszewski Jakub, 2020. "Pro-environmental actions of agricultural farms - example of holdings from the Wielkopolska region," Management, Sciendo, vol. 24(2), pages 236-250, December.

    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. Zhen, Wei & Qin, Quande & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2017. "Spatio-temporal patterns of energy consumption-related GHG emissions in China's crop production systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 274-284.
    2. Zhen, Wei & Qin, Quande & Miao, Lu, 2023. "The greenhouse gas rebound effect from increased energy efficiency across China's staple crops," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    3. Oriana Gava & Fabio Bartolini & Francesca Venturi & Gianluca Brunori & Alberto Pardossi, 2020. "Improving Policy Evidence Base for Agricultural Sustainability and Food Security: A Content Analysis of Life Cycle Assessment Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-29, February.
    4. Khan, Zaid Ashiq & Koondhar, Mansoor Ahmed & Tiantong, Ma & Khan, Aftab & Nurgazina, Zhanar & Tianjun, Liu & Fengwang, Ma, 2022. "Do chemical fertilizers, area under greenhouses, and renewable energies drive agricultural economic growth owing the targets of carbon neutrality in China?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    5. Qin Shu & Yang Su & Hong Li & Feng Li & Yunjie Zhao & Chen Du, 2023. "Study on the Spatial Structure and Drivers of Agricultural Carbon Emission Efficiency in Belt and Road Initiative Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-27, July.
    6. Jacob Hawkins & Chunbo Ma & Steven Schilizzi & Fan Zhang, 2018. "China's changing diet and its impacts on greenhouse gas emissions: an index decomposition analysis," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 62(1), pages 45-64, January.
    7. Magdalena Wróbel-Jędrzejewska & Elżbieta Polak, 2023. "Carbon Footprint Analysis of Ice Cream Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-17, April.
    8. Hongpeng Guo & Sidong Xie & Chulin Pan, 2021. "The Impact of Planting Industry Structural Changes on Carbon Emissions in the Three Northeast Provinces of China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-20, January.
    9. Guofeng Wang & Maolin Liao & Jie Jiang, 2020. "Research on Agricultural Carbon Emissions and Regional Carbon Emissions Reduction Strategies in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-20, March.
    10. Jianguo Li & Wenhui Yang & Yi Wang & Qiang Li & Lili Liu & Zhongqi Zhang, 2018. "Carbon Footprint and Driving Forces of Saline Agriculture in Coastally Reclaimed Areas of Eastern China: A Survey of Four Staple Crops," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-16, March.
    11. Xinjian Chen & Di Zeng & Ying Xu & Xiaojun Fan, 2018. "Perceptions, Risk Attitude and Organic Fertilizer Investment: Evidence from Rice and Banana Farmers in Guangxi, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-14, October.
    12. Xiaoyan Sun & Shuya Guang & Jingjing Cao & Fengying Zhu & Jianxu Liu & Songsak Sriboonchitta, 2023. "Effect of Agricultural Production Trusteeship on Agricultural Carbon Emission Reduction," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-18, July.
    13. Zhen, Wei & Qin, Quande & Qian, Xiaoying & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2018. "Inequality across China's Staple Crops in Energy Consumption and Related GHG Emissions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 17-30.

    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:4:p:1418-:d:320668. 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.