Identifying Mitigation Pathways for Low-Carbon Strawberry Production under Mediterranean Conditions: A Life Cycle...

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Environmental Science
• Climate Change Studies

Background:

• Agricultural production contributes significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions.
• Region-specific assessments are crucial for understanding climate impacts on food systems.
• Open-field strawberry production's environmental footprint requires detailed evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the carbon footprint of open-field strawberry production in Silifke, Türkiye.
• To identify the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in the strawberry life cycle.
• To explore mitigation strategies for reducing the carbon footprint.

Main Methods:

• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach with a cradle-to-farm-gate system boundary.
• Functional unit of 1 kg of strawberries.
• Life cycle modeling in SimaPro using Ecoinvent 3.10 database and IPCC 2021 GWP method.

Main Results:

• The total carbon footprint was 0.25052 kg CO2-eq/kg, within the lower range for Mediterranean strawberry production.
• Cultivation (77.56%) and raw material supply (22.44%) were the dominant stages.
• Fertilizer (NPK) use was the primary emission hotspot, contributing significantly to the carbon footprint.

Conclusions:

• Fertilizer optimization and maintaining yield stability are critical for mitigating the carbon footprint of strawberry production.
• A 20% reduction in fertilizer application can decrease the carbon footprint by 9.83%.
• Fertilizer inputs are the dominant emission driver, while electricity consumption has a negligible influence.