Influence of plastic mulch and fertilization on the environmental impact of spring cabbage production

Abstract

A three-year field experiment was conducted to determine the influence of plastic mulch (PM) and fertilization methods (FMs) on marketable yield (MY) and environmental impact of spring cabbage production. The trial consisted of two levels of mulching (without and with PM) and nine different FMs, including the control without fertilization (FM1). PM use without fertilization (FM1) increased yields by 35.9 % on average, but the positive yield effect of mulching decreased with fertilizer application (FM2–9). Mature cattle manure, composted pig manure and mineral fertilizer increased yields by 21.2 %, 60.6 % and 51.5 %, respectively. Combined fertilization gave higher yield up to 73.3 % compared to the control (FM1). The environmental impact was evaluated with the ReCiPe 2016 (H) life cycle impact assessment method. The foreground system was modeled mainly using primary data, while background system data were available from the ecoinvent 3.4 generic LCI database. On average across the nine FMs, the application of PM reduced water consumption (23 %), non-carcinogenic toxicity (25 %), terrestrial acidification (4 %), and required land area (11 %), but increased fossil resource scarcity (8 %), global warming (6 %) and fine particulate matter emissions (14 %). PM application had positive impacts on ecosystem quality, but regarding human health and resources availability, positive impacts were found only in the control (FM1). Negative environmental impact of PM was the consequence of large amounts of energy used for its production and hazardous emissions through PM disposal. On-site burning of PM under uncontrolled, open burn conditions should be avoided because of negative health impacts. Landfilling and combustion of PM in incinerators with energy recovery could reduce impacts of cabbage production on human health by 16 and 21 %, respectively, as compared to on-site burning. Fertilizer use was environmentally justified as damage indicators were lower on a MY basis compared to the control treatment without fertilization (by 18 %–44 %).