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Legume-based crop rotations as a strategy to mitigate fluctuations in fertilizer prices? A case study on bread wheat genotypes in northern Spain using life cycle and economic assessment

Weiner, Mareike; Moakes, Simon; Raya-Sereno, Maria Dolores and Cooper, Julia (2024) Legume-based crop rotations as a strategy to mitigate fluctuations in fertilizer prices? A case study on bread wheat genotypes in northern Spain using life cycle and economic assessment. European Journal of Agronomy, 159 (127267), pp. 1-11.

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Document available online at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1161030124001886


Summary in the original language of the document

Today’s agricultural production is heavily dependent on synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilizer. Its energy-intensive production and use are associated with a number of environmental burdens, such as global warming and marine eutrophication. Furthermore, fertilizer prices are subject to high volatility and have been rising steadily for years. One strategy to reduce the dependence on synthetic N fertilizer is to include legumes in the crop rotation, but it is important that this practice is economically viable to be adopted by farmers. Through gross margin analysis and life cycle assessment (LCA), we quantified the economic and environmental impacts of introducing grain legumes into rainfed bread wheat rotations in northern Spain. The analysis covered the full two-year sequences of barley-wheat, rapeseed-wheat and vetch-wheat. We further investigated the effect of four different bread wheat genotypes on the environmental and economic performance. In this case study, replacing synthetic N fertilizer with legume-fixed N in a two-year cropping rotation decreased most of the analysed environmental impacts. Modelled greenhouse gas emissions were 24 % lower for vetch-wheat compared to barley-wheat and 11 % lower compared to rapeseed-wheat. Despite higher wheat yield, the vetch-wheat rotation had an 18 % lower gross margin than the rapeseed rotation and a 1 % higher gross margin than the barley rotation. The sensitivity analysis showed that only when fertilizer and wheat grain prices were more than doubled, that the legume rotation became more profitable than the other rotations. Consequently, farmers would require a financial incentive to include legumes in crop rotations and reduce environmental impacts.


EPrint Type:Journal paper
Keywords:LCA, Environmental impact, Gross margin, Agriculture, Nitrogen, Pre-crop effect, SolACE, Abacus, FiBL10103
Agrovoc keywords:
Language
Value
URI
English
environmental impact
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_24420
English
nitrogen
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_5192
English
crop rotation
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_6662
Subjects: Soil > Soil quality
Crop husbandry > Crop combinations and interactions
Crop husbandry > Production systems > Cereals, pulses and oilseeds
Environmental aspects > Air and water emissions
Research affiliation: Spain > CSIC (Spanish National Research Council)
Spain > Polytechnic University of Madrid
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Crops > Composting and fertilizer application > Nitrogen
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Crops > Composting and fertilizer application > Plant nutrition
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Soil > Soil fertility
European Union > Horizon 2020 > SolACE
UK > Univ. Aberystwyth > Institute for Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS)
UK > Organic Research Centre (ORC)
UK > Univ. Newcastle
Switzerland > Other organizations Switzerland
DOI:10.1016/j.eja.2024.127267
Related Links:https://www.solace-eu.net/index.html, https://www.fibl.org/en/themes/projectdatabase/projectitem/project/1282
Deposited By: Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau, FiBL
ID Code:53580
Deposited On:12 Jul 2024 06:45
Last Modified:12 Jul 2024 09:26
Document Language:English
Status:Published
Refereed:Peer-reviewed and accepted

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