Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering, Department of
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Document Type
Article
Date of this Version
2024
Citation
MDPI Sustainability (2024) 16: 4012
Academic editor: Roberto Mancinelli
doi: 10.3390/su16104012
Abstract
Brazilian agriculture is constantly questioned concerning its environmental impacts, particularly greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This research study used data from a 34-year field experiment to estimate the life cycle GHG emissions intensity of maize production for grain in farming systems under no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) combined with Gramineae (oat) and legume (vetch) cover crops in southern Brazil. We applied the Feedstock Carbon Intensity Calculator for modeling the “field-to-farm gate” emissions with measured annual soil N2O and CH4 emissions data. For net CO2 emissions, increases in soil organic C (SOC) were applied as a proxy, where the CT combined with oat was a reference. The life cycle GHG emissions intensity for maize was negative under NT farming systems with Gramineae and legume cover crops, −0.7 and −0.1 kg CO2e kg−1 of maize, respectively. CT with oats as a cover crop had a GHG intensity of 1.0 kg CO2e kg−1 of maize and 2.2 Mg CO2e ha−1. NT with cover crops increased SOC (0.7 C Mg ha−1 yr−1, 0–100 cm) and contributed to the mitigation of life cycle GHG emissions of maize production. This research shows that NT with cover crops is a sustainable solution for farming in southern Brazil.
Included in
Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Atmospheric Sciences Commons, Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering Commons, Environmental Engineering Commons, Latin American Studies Commons, Other Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons, Sustainability Commons
Comments
Open access
License: CC BY 4.0