than BCI and Organic which scores 2.40 kg PO 4 -eq. and 0.46 kg PO 4 eq. respectively. This can be explained by the fact that eutrophication in the BCI as well as
conventional system is dominated by soil erosion, and soil erosion data refer to area
and are not influenced by production yield. That means that the lower the yield per
hectare, the higher the soil erosion per kg final product. BCI and organic practices
shows some advantages compared to conventional cotton in this impact category
because of reduced field air emissions of ammonia due to reduction of inorganic
fertilizers application.
Primary Energy Demand (PED): PED represents an indicator for fossil
resources. Conventional system shows highest PED followed by BCI and organic
systems (Conventional—5375 MJ, BCI—2510 MJ and Organic—1351 MJ). BCI
and organic practices shows some advantages compared to conventional cotton in
this impact category because of savings of energy associated to the production of
inorganic fertilizers used in a lower extent, reduced fuel requirement for tractor
operation and low fuel requirement for irrigation process.
Water Consumption (WC): Water consumption is smaller for BCI Cotton
(330 m
3 /1 ton of seed cotton) and organic cotton (391 m
3 /1 ton of seed cotton)
than for the conventional Cotton (541 m
3 /1 ton of seed cotton). BCI and organic
practices shows some advantages compared to conventional cotton in this impact
category because of less irrigation water requirement.
5 Limitations
At the level of primary inventory, considering average data over different years
would improve their representativeness. Also, increasing the number of farm
samples for all the cultivation systems would further enhance the quality and
robustness of the inventory data. It is also important to note that for many relevant
aspects (such as soil types, nutrient content of soils, soil erosion) primary data were
very hard to obtain, there for some of the data proxy values were applied, not
necessarily representative of local conditions. An important parameter is also the
difference between manual and mechanised farming practices carried out by marginal farmers and rich farmers respectively. Then, Indian geography has different
climatic conditions but the study focused only on the western part of the country.
Aggregating data into regional averages is an additional challenge and can potentially lead to distortions in a model trying to represent a realistic cultivation system.
Finally, some environmental impact routes (biodiversity, carbon sequestration in
soils) are difficult to assess in a LCA framework and are not investigated in this
study. Hence, some are omitted from the assessment where organic and BCI cotton
Cultivation could potentially also show advantages over conventional production
systems.
Life Cycle Assessment of Organic, BCI and Conventional …
75
conventional system is dominated by soil erosion, and soil erosion data refer to area
and are not influenced by production yield. That means that the lower the yield per
hectare, the higher the soil erosion per kg final product. BCI and organic practices
shows some advantages compared to conventional cotton in this impact category
because of reduced field air emissions of ammonia due to reduction of inorganic
fertilizers application.
Primary Energy Demand (PED): PED represents an indicator for fossil
resources. Conventional system shows highest PED followed by BCI and organic
systems (Conventional—5375 MJ, BCI—2510 MJ and Organic—1351 MJ). BCI
and organic practices shows some advantages compared to conventional cotton in
this impact category because of savings of energy associated to the production of
inorganic fertilizers used in a lower extent, reduced fuel requirement for tractor
operation and low fuel requirement for irrigation process.
Water Consumption (WC): Water consumption is smaller for BCI Cotton
(330 m
3 /1 ton of seed cotton) and organic cotton (391 m
3 /1 ton of seed cotton)
than for the conventional Cotton (541 m
3 /1 ton of seed cotton). BCI and organic
practices shows some advantages compared to conventional cotton in this impact
category because of less irrigation water requirement.
5 Limitations
At the level of primary inventory, considering average data over different years
would improve their representativeness. Also, increasing the number of farm
samples for all the cultivation systems would further enhance the quality and
robustness of the inventory data. It is also important to note that for many relevant
aspects (such as soil types, nutrient content of soils, soil erosion) primary data were
very hard to obtain, there for some of the data proxy values were applied, not
necessarily representative of local conditions. An important parameter is also the
difference between manual and mechanised farming practices carried out by marginal farmers and rich farmers respectively. Then, Indian geography has different
climatic conditions but the study focused only on the western part of the country.
Aggregating data into regional averages is an additional challenge and can potentially lead to distortions in a model trying to represent a realistic cultivation system.
Finally, some environmental impact routes (biodiversity, carbon sequestration in
soils) are difficult to assess in a LCA framework and are not investigated in this
study. Hence, some are omitted from the assessment where organic and BCI cotton
Cultivation could potentially also show advantages over conventional production
systems.
Life Cycle Assessment of Organic, BCI and Conventional …
75