Energy, economic, and environmental assessment of coriander seed production using material flow cost accounting and life cycle assessment.

Abstract

The agricultural sector in the world is facing social expectations to improve energy efficiency and reduce environmental impacts, and at the same producing enough food and fiber for the growing world population. The purpose of the present research is to determine the economic, energy consumption, and environmental impacts in coriander seed production using material flow cost accounting approach along with life cycle assessment. The positive output and negative energy were 25,485 and 6742MJha-1, respectively. Energy efficiency, net energy gain, specific energy, and energy productivity indicators were calculated as 0.6, - 11,944MJha-1, 17.4MJkg-1, and 0.06kgMJ-1, respectively. The average production cost was calculated as 588 $ ha-1 whereas gross income was 1267 $ ha-1. The value of negative products in coriander production was estimated as 239 $ ha-1. Seed shedding at harvest and water loss due to inefficient irrigation system were found to be the major negative products (economic and energy) in the system that can enhance the system productivity upon improvement. The values of benefit costs ratio and economic productivity were 1.74 and 3kg $-1, respectively. The acidification potential (102.5kg SO2 eq ha-1), global warming potential (897.3kg CO2 eq ha-1), photochemical oxidation potential (0.13kg C2H4 eq ha-1), and eutrophication potential (40.3kg PO4-3eqha-1) indicators were evaluated. The hotspots in point of economic (labor and seed shedding), energy use (nitrogen fertilizer and machinery) and energy loss (seed shedding), and environment (diesel fuel consumption) were determined which can be used to optimize coriander production through decreasing the material and energy consumption in the field. The results showed that MFCA combined with LCA is a powerful tool in identifying hotspots in crop production systems and can be used in developing more sustainable systems as well as in developing sustainability models.