Life Cycle Assessment of Two Vineyards after the Application of Precision Viticulture Techniques: A Case Study

Athanasios Balafoutis,Stefanos Koundouras,Spyros Fountas,Konstantinos Arvanitis,Evangelos Anastasiou

doi:10.3390/su9111997

Athanasios Balafoutis, Stefanos Koundouras + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su9111997

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Abstract

Precision viticulture is the application of site-specific techniques to vineyard production to improve grape quality and yield and minimize the negative effects on the environment. While there are various studies on the inherent spatial and temporal variability of vineyards, the assessment of the environmental impact of variable rate applications has attracted limited attention. In this study, two vineyards planted with different grapevine cultivars (Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah) were examined for four consecutive growing seasons (2013–2016). The first year, the two vineyards were only studied in terms of soil properties and crop characteristics, which resulted in the delineation of two distinct management zones for each field. For the following three years, variable rate nutrient application was applied to each management zone based on leaf canopy reflectance, where variable rate irrigation was based on soil moisture sensors, meteorological data, evapotranspiration calculation, and leaf canopy reflectance. Life cycle assessment was carried out to identify the effect of variable rate applications on vineyard agro-ecosystems. The results of variable rate nutrients and water application in the selected management zones as an average value of three growing seasons were compared to the conventional practice. It was found that the reduction of product carbon footprint (PCF) of grapes in Sauvignon Blanc between the two periods was 25% in total. Fertilizer production and distribution (direct) and application (indirect) was the most important sector of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction, accounting for 17.2%, and the within-farm energy use was the second ranked sector with 8.8% (crop residue management increase GHG emissions by 1.1%, while 0.1% GHG reduction is obtained by pesticide use). For the Syrah vineyard, where the production was less intensive, precision viticulture led to a PCF reduction of 28.3% compared to conventional production. Fertilizers contributed to this decrease by 27.6%, while within-farm energy use had an impact of 2.2% that was positive even though irrigation was increased, due to yield rise. Our results suggest that nutrient status management offers the greatest potential for reducing GHG emissions in both vineyard types. Variable rate irrigation also showed differences in comparison to conventional treatment, but to a lesser degree than variable rate fertilization. This difference between conventional practices and precision viticulture is noteworthy, and shows the potential of precision techniques to reduce the effect of viticulture on GHG emissions.

Highlights

Agricultural productivity has seen a significant increase since the mid-twentieth century, due to the existence of new technologies in agriculture [1]
The fact that multiple growing seasons are examined—where the year effect cannot impact as a major factor in the life cycle assessment (LCA) analysis—makes this work provide stable results based on average values of multi-seasonal variable rate application of nutrients and irrigation water
The importance of this study was to show the influence on the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions both from different vineyard cultivars in the same region that receive different numbers of operations, and the effect of different management zones, which is the cornerstone of precision agriculture

Summary

Introduction

Agricultural productivity has seen a significant increase since the mid-twentieth century, due to the existence of new technologies in agriculture [1]. There are numerous environmental impacts as a result of intensive agricultural practices and agricultural mechanisation. These include soil erosion and loss of soil organic matter [2,3,4,5]; excessive nitrogen use [6,7]; reduction of water reserves above ground and in the aquifer [8]; and excessive pesticide use that causes numerous environmental problems (eutrophication, ecotoxicity, soil degradation and acidification) [9]. The agricultural sector significantly affects climate change, accounting for nearly 13.5% of the total global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) production [11]. The major GHGs produced in this sector are methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 arises directly from energy use in the farm (fuels, electricity) and from changes in above- and below-ground carbon stocks induced by land use and land use change [12]

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