Cradle to farm gate life cycle assessment of strawberry production in the United States

Tabatabaie, Seyed Mohammad Hossein; Murthy, Ganti S.

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.03.175

Cited by 51 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In addition, a small fraction of irrigation pumps relies on diesel fuel rather than electricity. Impacts associated with machinery were not considered in this analysis, but a previous study of strawberry production in California found they were relatively insignificant due to the long life and limited operation hours of the machinery [26]. The energy, GHG emissions, and costs associated with diesel fuel for irrigation are included in the 'Applied Water' category, rather than the 'Direct Fuel' category.…”

Section: Direct Fossil Fuelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the existing literature is mostly specific to Europe; the GHG footprints of lemons, celery, and avocados have never been determined for the United States. The GHG footprint of strawberries in the United States has been estimated by three studies, two of which are specific to California, but not to Ventura County [25][26][27]. The applied water demand of all four crops has been previously estimated for California as a whole but not at the county level [28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Environmental evaluation of high-value agricultural produce with diverse water sources: case study from Southern California

Bell

Stokes-Draut

Horvath

2018

Environ. Res. Lett.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Meeting agricultural demand in the face of a changing climate will be one of the major challenges of the 21st century. California is the single largest agricultural producer in the United States but is prone to extreme hydrologic events, including multi-year droughts. Ventura County is one of California's most productive growing regions but faces water shortages and deteriorating water quality. The future of California's agriculture is dependent on our ability to identify and implement alternative irrigation water sources and technologies. Two such alternative water sources are recycled and desalinated water. The proximity of high-value crops in Ventura County to both dense population centers and the Pacific Ocean makes it a prime candidate for alternative water sources. This study uses highly localized spatial and temporal data to assess life-cycle energy use, life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, operational costs, applied water demand, and on-farm labor requirements for four high-value crops. A complete switch from conventional irrigation with groundwater and surface water to recycled water would increase the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions associated with strawberry, lemon, celery, and avocado production by approximately 14%, 7%, 59%, and 9%, respectively. Switching from groundwater and surface water to desalinated water would increase life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions by 33%, 210%, 140%, and 270%, respectively. The use of recycled or desalinated water for irrigation is most financially tenable for strawberries due to their relatively high value and close proximity to water treatment facilities. However, changing strawberry packaging has a greater potential impact on life-cycle energy use and greenhouse gas emissions than switching the water source. While this analysis does not consider the impact of water quality on crop yields, previous studies suggest that switching to recycled water could result in significant yield increases due to its lower salinity.

show abstract

Section: Direct Fossil Fuelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental evaluation of high-value agricultural produce with diverse water sources: case study from Southern California

Bell

Stokes-Draut

Horvath

2018

Environ. Res. Lett.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…First, the environmental impact of fresh fruits and vegetables can vary significantly with geography. One study found the carbon footprint of strawberries produced in North Carolina to be three times higher than that of those produced in California [37]. A principal reason for this discrepancy is California's optimal growing climate, which delivers higher yields relative to other production regions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the carbon footprint of fresh produce: effects of transportation, localness, and seasonality on US orange markets

Bell

Horvath

2020

Environ. Res. Lett.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Agriculture is one of the most impactful ways that we interact with the environment. Food demand is expected to increase 70% by 2050 as a result of population growth and the emergence of the global middle class. Meeting the expected demand in a sustainable manner will require an integrated systems-level approach to food production and supply. We present a conceptual framework for estimating the cradle-to-market life-cycle seasonal greenhouse gas emissions impact of fresh produce commodities, including the production, post-harvest processing, packaging, and transportation stages. Using oranges as a case study, we estimate the carbon footprint per kilogram of fruit delivered to wholesale market in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Atlanta and assess the relative importance of transportation mode, transportation distance (i.e. localness), and seasonality. We find that the cradle-to-market carbon footprint of oranges delivered to US cities can vary by more than a factor of two, depending on the production origin (e.g. 0.3 kgCO 2 e/kg for Californian oranges delivered to New York City versus 0.7 kgCO 2 e/kg for Mexican oranges delivered to New York City). The transportation mode was found to have a significant impact on the results; transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions associated with oranges trucked from Mexico to New York City were found to be six times higher than those transported by containership from Chile, in spite of traveling less than half the distance. Seasonality had a moderate impact on the results and varied depending on the destination city; based on our cradle-to-market analysis, the average carbon footprint of 'out-ofseason' oranges relative to 'in-season' oranges increased by 51%, 46%, 14%, and 24% for Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City, respectively. This study highlights the value of regionallyspecific carbon footprinting for fresh produce and the need for a consistent and standardized data reporting framework for agricultural systems.

show abstract

“…However, temperature and photoperiod interaction would hugely impact the flowering response and day-neutrality of the day-neutral cultivars. They will flower when temperatures are between 4 to 29°C (Rowley et al, 2011;Tabatabaie and Murthy, 2016), thus having the potential to extend harvest period that opens the window for off-season production (Reitmeier and Nonnecke, 1991). Dayneutral cultivar Albion in the annual plasticulture system can produce around 1 kg/plant marketable yield during a 6-month harvest period (from mid-May to mid-October) with better fruit quality than other day-neutral cultivars (Ballington et al, 2008).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth and Yield of Organic Day-neutral Strawberries in Low Tunnels inside High Tunnel in North Carolina

Rana¹,

Gu²

2020

horts

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

North Carolina’s fresh strawberry has a $21.4 million economic value, which is primarily from short-day cultivars in the annual plasticulture system. Organic and off-season day-neutral strawberries have higher prices than the conventional, field-grown strawberries. There have been no published studies on suitable cultivars, transplanting dates, and additional winter protection methods for day-neutral strawberry production in high tunnels in North Carolina. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of low tunnels, planting dates, and cultivars on growth, yield, and season extension potential of day-neutral strawberries in high tunnels. Plugs of day-neutral cultivars Albion and San Andreas were either transplanted in raised beds covered with low tunnels (LT) or without low tunnels (control, NLT), inside high tunnels on the N.C. A&T State University Farm (Greensboro, NC) on two different planting dates, which were 1 Sept. (D1) and 29 Sept. (D2) of 2016, or 9 Sept. (D1) and 10 Oct. (D2) of 2017, respectively. A completely randomized design with split-split plots was used. LT did not significantly affect the total yield and plant phenology, but they promoted the first harvest by a week compared with NLT, which resulted in higher yield during the winter of both years. D1 promoted about 24 days of earlier harvest than D2. ‘Albion’ had an earlier bloom and harvest date (by 1 to 3 weeks and 2 to 3 weeks, respectively) than ‘San Andreas’. Strawberry yield was low in the fall season, but it started to increase from January, peaked in April, and decreased again in May. D1 increased the whole season’s marketable yield of ‘Albion’ (430.3 g/plant), compared with that of ‘San Andreas’ (330.9 g/plant). During the winter, ‘Albion’ had a higher yield than ‘San Andreas’. Our study indicates that LT inside HT might not significantly improve the plant growth, early harvest, or total yield. Planting dates had no consistent effect on yield. It was suggested that ‘Albion’ should be considered for high winter yields, and ‘San Andreas’ be a cultivar with high yields of the entire season in high tunnels.

show abstract

Cradle to farm gate life cycle assessment of strawberry production in the United States

Cited by 51 publications

References 15 publications

Environmental evaluation of high-value agricultural produce with diverse water sources: case study from Southern California

Environmental evaluation of high-value agricultural produce with diverse water sources: case study from Southern California

Modeling the carbon footprint of fresh produce: effects of transportation, localness, and seasonality on US orange markets

Growth and Yield of Organic Day-neutral Strawberries in Low Tunnels inside High Tunnel in North Carolina

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About