home    about    browse    search    latest    help 
Login | Create Account

Assessing the ecological soundness of organic and conventional agriculture by means of life cycle assessment (LCA) - a case study of leek production

de Backer, Eline ; Aertsens, Joris; Vergucht, Sofie and Steurbaut, Walter (2009) Assessing the ecological soundness of organic and conventional agriculture by means of life cycle assessment (LCA) - a case study of leek production. British Food Journal, 11 (10), pp. 1028-1061.

[thumbnail of 2_De_Backer_et_al_Assessing_ecological_sustainabiltiy_by_means_of_LCA.pdf]
Preview
PDF - Accepted Version - English
455kB

Document available online at: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-831010


Summary

Purpose – Sustainable agriculture implies the ability of agro-ecosystems to remain productive in the long-term. It is not easy to point out unambiguously whether or not current production systems meet this sustainability demand. A priori thinking would suggest that organic crops are environmentally favourable, but may ignore the effect of reduced productivity, which shifts the potential impact to other parts of the food provision system. The purpose of this paper is to assess the ecological sustainability of conventional and organic leek production by means of life cycle assessment (LCA).
Design/methodology/approach – A cradle-to-farm gate LCA is applied, based on real farm data from two research centres. For a consistent comparison, two functional units (FU) were defined: 1ha and 1?kg of leek production.
Findings – Assessed on an area basis, organic farming shows a more favourable environmental profile. These overall benefits are strongly reduced when the lower yields are taken into account. Related to organic farming it is therefore important that solutions are found to substantially increase the yields without increasing the environmental burden. Related to conventional farming, important potential for environmental improvements are in optimising the farm nutrient flows, reducing pesticide use and increasing its self-supporting capacity.
Research limitations/implications – The research is a cradle-to-farm gate LCA, future research can be expanded to comprise all phases from cradle-to-grave to get an idea of the total sustainability of our present food consumption patterns. The research is also limited to the case of leek production. Future research can apply the methodology to other crops.
Originality/value – To date, there is still lack of clear evidence of the added value of organic farming compared to conventional farming on environmental basis. Few studies have compared organic and conventional food production by means of LCA. This paper addresses these issues.


EPrint Type:Journal paper
Keywords:Consumers, Crops, Farms, Organic food, Sustainable development, LCA, Life Cycle Analysis
Subjects: Crop husbandry > Production systems
Food systems > Food security, food quality and human health
Values, standards and certification > Assessment of impacts and risks
Environmental aspects > Air and water emissions
Values, standards and certification > Consumer issues
Values, standards and certification > Evaluation of inputs
Research affiliation:Belgium
DOI:DOI: 10.1108/00070700910992916
Related Links:http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do?contentType=Article&contentId=1816953, https://biblio.ugent.be/input/download?func=downloadFile&fileOId=831059&recordOId=682843, http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContainer.do;jsessionid=2806BECF62E3A4A509ED4B515B8D166C?containerType=Issue&containerId=15001803, http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-682843, http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-831010
Deposited By: Aertsens, ir. Joris
ID Code:16913
Deposited On:15 Feb 2011 12:12
Last Modified:15 Feb 2011 12:12
Document Language:English
Status:Published
Refereed:Peer-reviewed and accepted

Repository Staff Only: item control page

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics