| Titre : | Life cycle assessment of Sicilian durum wheat: a comparative study of conventional and organic systems (2026) |
| Auteurs : | M. Auteri ; S. Prestigiacomo ; R.N. Mankaa ; A. Covais ; M. Traverso ; G. Di Miceli |
| Type de document : | Article |
| Dans : | Cleaner Environmental Systems (vol. 20, March 2026) |
| Article en page(s) : | p. 100413 |
| Langues : | Anglais |
| Langues du résumé : | Anglais |
| Catégories : |
Catégories principales 06 - AGRICULTURE. FORÊTS. PÊCHES ; 6.4 - Production Agricole. Système de ProductionThésaurus IAMM ANALYSE DU CYCLE DE VIE ; BLE DUR ; SYSTEME DE PRODUCTION ; AGRICULTURE BIOLOGIQUE ; AGRICULTURE INTENSIVE ; SICILIA ; ITALIE |
| Résumé : | Durum wheat production plays an indispensable role in sustaining populations, and it occupies an estimated area of 18 million hectares worldwide. The production of this crop requires a large amount of material and energy inputs, affecting the environment in different ways including the emissions of greenhouse gases. In the context of global climate change it is urgent to mitigate the impact of agricultural activities. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the environmental impacts of conventional and organic durum wheat grain production systems in Sicily, involving, for the first time, a considerable number of farms, using the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. Primary data were collected from 21 Sicilian farms and a ton was used as the functional unit. A "cradle to farm gate" system boundary was adopted, encompassing both background activities and all inputs for wheat cultivation. Secondary data were used when the primary information was not available; the analysis was carried out using SimaPro 9.5.0.1. The impact was calculated through the CML-IA baseline method, considering 11 impact categories and land use from the Recipe midpoint (H) 2016. The results showed that in all impact categories conventional farming had higher impacts than organic. Furthermore, in most categories for the conventional system, the main affecting factors were fuel, transport, fertilisers and pesticides, while in the organic one only fuel and seeds. Normalized results suggested that marine aquatic ecotoxicity showed the highest values, followed by freshwater ecotoxicity. The results of this study are relevant for evaluating strategies to reduce the environmental impacts associated with durum wheat production. |
| Cote : | En ligne |
| URL / DOI : | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cesys.2026.100413 |
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