Abstract
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and freshwater scarcity are central environmental concerns that are closely linked to crop production. The carbon footprint (CF) and water footprint (WF) of a crop can reflect the effects of crop production on GHG emissions and water use (WU), respectively. Studying the CFs and WFs associated with crop production will be conducive to understanding the environmental changes caused by agricultural activities, and exploring the relationship between CFs and WFs can provide a basis for strategies that reduce environmental pressures. We estimated the CF and WF of maize production in Jilin Province from 2004 to 2017 and analyzed their spatiotemporal characteristics. The results showed that the average CF and WF were 0.177 kg CO2eq/kg and 0.806 m3/kg from 2004 to 2017, respectively; 69% of the GHG emissions were due to the manufacture; transportation and application of fertilizer; and 84% of the water use was attributed to the green WF. The relationship between the CF and WF of maize production was significantly positive and indicated the possibility of simultaneous mitigation. Potential practices such as the optimization of fertilization and of agricultural machinery use and the incorporation of no-till technologies with the straw return are recommended to mitigate both GHG emissions and water use and achieve triple-win agriculture with low carbon use and water and energy savings
Highlights
Climate change and water scarcity are two crucial environmental issues faced by humanity [1]
Current crop production is strongly dependent on the application of fertilizers, pesticides, diesel and irrigation; excessive use of these inputs leads to increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [10,11], water consumption and water pollution [12]
The results showed that the average carbon footprint (CF) and water footprint (WF) were 0.177 kg
Summary
Climate change and water scarcity are two crucial environmental issues faced by humanity [1]. The development of agricultural modernization, mechanization and chemicalization has made agriculture an important source of GHG emissions, and agriculture may be one of the largest sources of GHG emissions by 2050, agricultural emissions are currently much lower than those from transportation and energy supplies [7]. Crop production is a major component of agriculture and is an important source of GHG emissions and water use [9]. Current crop production is strongly dependent on the application of fertilizers, pesticides, diesel and irrigation; excessive use of these inputs leads to increasing GHG emissions [10,11], water consumption and water pollution [12]. Quantifying GHG emissions, water consumption and water pollution; identifying the sources of GHG emissions and water use during the growth periods of crops: formulating strategies to achieve low carbon emissions and water and energy savings have become urgent issues
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