Assessment of environmental impacts: a life cycle analysis of wheat and rice production in Madhya Pradesh

N.S. Khangar¹ and M. Thangavel²*

¹Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Research scholar, Department of Humanities & Social Science, Indore M.P., India
²Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities & Social Science, Indore M.P., India
*Correspondence: mohana@iiti.ac.in

Abstract:

The production of cereals is one of the primary activities that is responsible for most of the environmental degradation that is caused by agricultural activities. In this study, an attempt was made to determine the ecosystem & resource emissions along with emissions affecting human health, causing due to agricultural activities. LCA is used to conduct an analysis of 17 types of emissions caused by rice and wheat production per hectare in Madhya Pradesh. Based on LCIA and Monte Carlo simulation, the study provides valuable insights into the regional environmental emissions associated with direct seeded rice (DSR), irrigated wheat (IW) and rainfed wheat (RW). Study shows that except for Marine eutrophication (MEUT) and Agricultural land use (ALU), rice production has relatively higher impact than wheat production. Irrigated wheat production found with higher potential of causing non-cancerous diseases caused by air pollution, whereas rice production has the potential to contribute to cancer disease. The production of rice and wheat in Madhya Pradesh state cumulatively contributes 0.008 Gt CO₂ eq. (0.10% of global total) to the global agrifood system GHG emission within farmgate. Since majority of the emissions are caused by soil & crop nutrients and fuel consumption, here it became important to adopt sustainable agricultural practices & biofuel to lessen the environmental impact of wheat & rice production and make sustainable agro-food system of Madhya Pradesh. Based on study results emission mitigation policies have been suggested taking the existing policies into consideration.

Key words:

carbon footprint, environmental impact, life cycle assessment, rice

Change in the carbon footprint of Iranians’ food consumption from 1961 to 2019: A decomposition analysis of drivers

B. Bashiri¹²*, M. Zehtabvar², O. Gavrilova² and R. Vilu¹²

¹Tallinn University of Technology, Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Akadeemia tee 15, EE12618 Tallinn, Estonia
²Center of Food and Fermentation Technologies, Mäealuse 2/4, EE12618 Tallinn, Estonia
*Correspondence: Bashir.Bashiri@tftak.eu

Abstract:

The study investigates the role of three drivers: population, energy intake per capita, and dietary change on the carbon footprint of food consumption in Iran from 1961 to 2019. Iran was chosen for this analysis because the country has experienced a noteworthy population increase in the past century, and the imposed international sanctions have changed the economic welfare of the nation. Logarithmic Mean Division Index, along with data of FAOSTAT Food balance sheets and carbon footprint per item, were utilized to decompose the impacts of the drivers. The results demonstrated that the carbon footprint of food consumption in Iran increased by 1.6 during this period. We also found that population increase, and energy intake per capita were the main drivers of the carbon footprint of food consumption in Iran while diet change contributed negatively.

Key words: