Document Type : Original research article
Authors
1
Department of Plant Production and Genetics,Faculty of Agriculture,Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran.
2
Department of Plant Production and Genetics, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran.
3
Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point (UWSP), U.S. , College of Natural Resources, USA.
Abstract
Over the past few decades, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production in Iran has significantly increased due to reliance on chemical inputs. However, the environmental consequences of these inputs on human health and natural resources remain poorly understood. To evaluate the environmental impacts of wheat production using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach, this study was conducted in two parts: experimental field research and a field survey. In the experimental field section, three agroecosystems—low-input, high-input, and medium-input—were established at the Shahid Chamran University research farm in Ahvaz, with three replications in a randomized complete block design. In the field survey, data were collected from Karun and Hamidieh counties through face-to-face interviews with 50 farmers, based on four scenarios: the average of 50 farms, high-input, medium-input, and low-input agroecosystems in 2018. Input and output data for wheat production were gathered using questionnaires and field cultivation information, with input data sourced from the Ecoinvent database in SimaPro 9.0 software. Environmental impact assessments, conducted using the CML 2 Baseline 2000 V2.05 method (Netherlands, 1997), revealed that field survey agroecosystems exhibited significantly higher environmental impacts than experimental field cultivation due to excessive use of agricultural inputs. Among the seven scenarios, the high-input agroecosystem in the field survey had the greatest environmental impacts across seven impact categories: depletion of abiotic resources (5.43 kg Sb eq.), acidification potential (15.62 kg SO₂ eq.), eutrophication potential (7.36 kg PO₄ eq.), global warming potential (1003 kg CO₂ eq.), photochemical oxidation potential (0.17 kg C₂H₄ eq.), ozone layer depletion potential (99 mg CFC-11 eq.), and marine aquatic ecotoxicity (97,272 kg 1,4-DB eq.). The low-input agroecosystem in the experimental field, due to the use of animal manure, showed the highest pollution in three impact categories: human toxicity (398 kg 1,4-DB eq.), freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity (346 kg 1,4-DB eq.), and terrestrial ecotoxicity (40 kg 1,4-DB eq.). Consequently, two approaches—precision agriculture for rational input use and ecological agriculture for input substitution—are recommended to mitigate environmental impacts.
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