Greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation potential of hybrid maize seed production in northwestern China

Abstract

Although hybrid maize seed production is one of the most important agriculture systems worldwide, its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and potential mitigation measures have not been studied. In this study, we used life cycle assessment (LCA) to quantify the GHG emissions of 150 farmers run by 6 companies in an area of northwest China known for hybrid maize seed production. The results indicated that the average reactive nitrogen (Nr) losses and GHG emissions from hybrid maize seed production were 53 kg N ha − 1 and 8077 kg CO 2 eq ha − 1 , respectively, which are higher than those of the conventional maize production system. Furthermore, the average nitrogen and carbon footprints of the process were 12.2 kg N Mg − 1 and 1495 kg CO 2 eq Mg − 1 , respectively. Nitrogen fertilizer and electricity consumption for irrigation were the main contributors to high GHG emissions, accounting for 60% and 30% of the total, respectively. The GHG emissions from seed production for different companies varied greatly with their resource input. There was also a large variation in environmental burdens among the 150 farmers. Based on an analysis of the yield group, we found that the carbon footprint of the rst group (the one with the highest yield) was 27% lower than the overall average. Scenario analysis suggests that a combined reduction of N input rate, optimizing irrigation, and increasing yield can eventually mitigate the carbon footprint of hybrid maize seed production by 37%. An integrated systematic approach (e.g., ISSM: integrated soil-crop system management) can reduce the GHG emissions involved in producing hybrid maize seeds. This study provides quantitative evidence and a potential strategy for GHG emissions reduction of hybrid maize seed production.

Trade‐off between soil carbon sequestration and net ecosystem economic benefits for paddy fields under long‐term application of biochar

“…Biochar application alone had a slight effect on rice yield without N fertilizer application in our study (Figure 4a), which was consistent with the results of Ye et al (2020). B2N significantly increased rice yield by 23% (Figure 4a), which was consistent with the results of Liu, Li, et al (2022) and Liu, Zhang, et al (2022). In general, biochar combined with N fertilizer produces the maximum yield (Figure 4a), which may be attributed to the promotion of microbial activity, increased nutrient release, and prevention of nitrogen leaching (Li et al, 2015).…”

“…(2022) and Liu, Zhang, et al. (2022). In general, biochar combined with N fertilizer produces the maximum yield (Figure 4a), which may be attributed to the promotion of microbial activity, increased nutrient release, and prevention of nitrogen leaching (Li et al., 2015).…”

“…Biochar enhances soil carbon storage and decreases nitrogen loss (Bamminger et al., 2018). The use of biochar in conjunction with nitrogen fertilizer to improve long‐term soil carbon sequestration capacity, crop productivity, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and net ecosystem economic benefits (NEEB), as well as reduce GHG emissions from crop production can offset the impact of global climate change (Bamminger et al., 2018; Liu et al., 2022; Liu et al., 2022). NEEB is frequently applied to evaluate the ecological advantages of various cropping systems based on output, input cost, and carbon cost (Huang et al., 2022).…”

“…Agricultural release 17%–32% of total global GHG emissions into the atmosphere (Panchasara et al., 2021). Rice is one of the most vital agricultural products in the world, accounting for 22% of the total area planted to food crops globally (Liu et al., 2022; Liu et al., 2022), while paddy fields provide around 30% and 11% of global agricultural CH 4 and N 2 O, respectively (Gupta et al., 2021). Biochar enhances soil carbon storage and decreases nitrogen loss (Bamminger et al., 2018).…”

Towards a sustainable food production: modelling the impacts of climate change on maize and soybean production in Ghana

“…These findings are also consistent with those of Rehman et al ( 2020 ), Rehman et al ( 2021a ), Warsame et al ( 2021 ), and Zhang et al ( 2021 ), all of whom found that carbon dioxide emissions have a considerable positive impact on maize output. Carbon dioxide emissions, on the other hand, have a detrimental influence on maize output (Chen et al 2020 ; Feng et al 2020 ; Liu et al 2022 ). Because irrigation is a potential remedy for ensuring a consistent water supply and mitigating heat stress, it is critical to expand the use of groundwater irrigation in measuring the carbon dioxide emissions of agricultural production and underpinning the prospects for their reduction to sustainably develop farming strategies that increase yield with a minimal environmental cost.…”