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Life Cycle Assessment of Protected Strawberry Productions in Central Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Alessio Ilari

    (Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 60131 Ancona, Italy)

  • Giuseppe Toscano

    (Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 60131 Ancona, Italy)

  • Kofi Armah Boakye-Yiadom

    (Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 60131 Ancona, Italy)

  • Daniele Duca

    (Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 60131 Ancona, Italy)

  • Ester Foppa Pedretti

    (Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 60131 Ancona, Italy)

Abstract

Agricultural activities in Europe cover half of the total area of the continent and are simultaneously a cause of environmental impact and victims of the same impact. Horticultural or fruit crops are considered highly intensive and often employ many crop inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, and various materials. Strawberry falls into this group, and it has grown in acreage and production more than others globally. The aim of this study is to compare the environmental impact of two strawberry cultivation systems in central Italy, a mulched soil tunnel and a soilless tunnel system. The method used to assess the impact is LCA, widely applied in agriculture and supported by international standards. The data used are mainly primary, related to 2018, and representative of the cultivation systems of central Italy. For impact assessment, the method selected was the CML_IA baseline version. From the results obtained, the two systems show a similar impact per kg of strawberries produced (e.g., for global warming: 0.785 kg CO 2 eq for soilless, 0.778 kg CO 2 eq for mulched soil tunnel). Reduced differences can be observed for the use of crop inputs (greater for the tunnel) and the use of materials and technology (greater for soilless). The mitigation measures considered concern the replacement of the packaging (excluding plastic) and the growing medium of the soilless using perlite and compost from insect breeding.

Suggested Citation

  • Alessio Ilari & Giuseppe Toscano & Kofi Armah Boakye-Yiadom & Daniele Duca & Ester Foppa Pedretti, 2021. "Life Cycle Assessment of Protected Strawberry Productions in Central Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-14, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:9:p:4879-:d:544076
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Khoshnevisan, Benyamin & Shariati, Hanifreza Motamed & Rafiee, Shahin & Mousazadeh, Hossein, 2014. "Comparison of energy consumption and GHG emissions of open field and greenhouse strawberry production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 316-324.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kofi Armah Boakye-Yiadom & Alessio Ilari & Daniele Duca, 2022. "Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Life Cycle Assessment on the Black Soldier Fly ( Hermetia illucens L.)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-29, August.
    2. Mousavi, Masoumeh & Taki, Morteza & Raeini, Mahmoud Ghaseminejd & Soheilifard, Farshad, 2023. "Evaluation of energy consumption and environmental impacts of strawberry production in different greenhouse structures using life cycle assessment (LCA) approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    3. Maria Pergola & Angela Maffia & Giuseppe Carlucci & Alessandro Persiani & Assunta Maria Palese & Massimo Zaccardelli & Gessica Altieri & Giuseppe Celano, 2023. "An Environmental and Economic Analysis of Strawberry Production in Southern Italy," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-19, August.

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