Impacts of chemical crop protection applications on related CO2 emissions and CO2 assimilation of crops

Abstract

A major global challenge is to provide agricultural production systems that are able to sustain growing demands for food, feed, fibre and renewable raw materials without exacerbating climate change. Detailed and reliable data on the CO(2) balance of different agricultural management activities and inputs as a basis to quantify carbon footprints of agriculture are still lacking. This study aims to fill this gap further by quantifying the net balance of emitted and assimilated CO(2) due to the application of crop protection treatments on the farm, and by assessing their partial contribution to GHG emissions and mitigation in agriculture. The study focuses on key agricultural crops including wheat, corn, oilseeds and sugar crops. The final CO(2) balance, considering GHG emissions due to on-farm CPP treatment in comparison with CO(2) storage in additional biomass, CO(2) protected with respect to agrotechnical inputs and land inputs and CO(2) saved with respect to associated global land use changes, is positive and may reach multiples of up to nearly 2000. The results highlight the importance of the positive yield effects of the CPP programme applications on the farm, resulting in additional assimilated biomass at the farm level and less land use changes at the global level, and thus lower pressure on environmentally important indicators of overall agricultural sustainability.