N2O emission in horticultural crops and mitigation strategies

Abstract

Romero-Gámez, M., Suárez-Rey, E.M. 2017^. N2O emission in horticultural crops and mitigation strategies. Ecosistemas 26(1): 79-85. Doi.: 10.7818/ECOS.2017.26-1.10

Sustainable food production and consumption and the environmental impacts caused by agricultural activities are currently one of the main concerns of consumers and governments. The excessive and/or inadequate use of fertilizers, especially nitrogen fertilizers, produce high environmental burdens. The methodology selected for the environmental study was Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The cropping systems were: greenhouse (INV), plastic mulch combined with fleece (AC+AG), plastic mulch (AC) and open field (AL). The effects of different nitrogen fertilizer application rates (0%, 25%, 50%, 100%, 125% and 150%) were evaluated for each system. The aim of this analysis was to identify and study the N₂O emissions to air of producing lettuce and escarole in Mediterranean conditions under different production systems and at different nitrogen management application levels. The LCA methodology proved to be a useful tool to evaluate the N₂O emissions of producing two leafy crops with different nitrogen doses. INV was the production system with the highest environmental impact in both crops. Fertilizers produced the largest N₂O emissions in lettuce and escarole production. The reduction and optimizing of N fertilizer application should be considered to improve the N₂O emissions to air of leafy crops in different cultivation systems. For the lettuce and escarole crops, the LCA study indicated that the AC+AG system with 50%N, proved to be the best option considering combined environmental and commercial criteria.