Evaluation of hazelnut production in Türkiye in environment, energy and economy using life cycle assessment approach

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the environmental impacts of hazelnut cultivation in Ordu province ofTürkiye, which ranks first in world hazelnut production. Thus, a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) was implemented to analyze the environmental impact potentials determined as acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), and global warming potential (GWP). Additionally, energy use efficiency and economic analysis wereidentified. Data were collected from fifteen farmers cultivating in the same region and performing the same culturalpractices by conducting a face-to-face questionnaire during the period of 2019–2020. LCA results showed that all environmental impacts and energy use of hazelnut production in the region were dominated by synthetic fertilizer. According to the results of the economic analysis, human labor had the highest share (52.7 % as a minimum) with 6.2TRY kg−1 and 5550.0 TRY ha−1, although it was not included in the environmental impact category. Harvestinghad the largest share in economic costs, but it was the most challenging cultural practice as it was carried out underdifficult conditions (slope up to 70 %, hot weather) and depended only on human labor. This study provides a basisfor future studies and recommends solutions for agricultural sustainability in hazelnut production. The foremoststep taken should be to use fertilizer according to soil analysis and to encourage organic fertilizer use. Future studiesshould examine the relationship between fertilizer use and hazelnut yield. Also, the use of manpower tools withoutfossil fuels could overcome the challenges as an environmentally friendly solution for harvesting.</p

Investigating the Carbon Footprint due to Tractor and Fertilizer Use during Organic and Conventional Vegetable Production in Palas, Kayseri

Agricultureappears to be the second biggest economic sector releasing greenhouse gasses accordingto the 2014 IPCC report. Although there is a perception that organic farming ismore environmentally friendly, many studies claim otherwise and individualfarming techniques influence the emissions more. In thisstudy we concentrated on vegetable production in Palas Plain, Kayseri, Turkey. Wemade surveys with 14 organic and 18 conventional vegetable producers in 2016.In thispaper we evaluated the direct and indirect greenhouse emission differences onconventional and organic farming practices only due to tractor and fertilizeruse. The amountof energy per hectare of agricultural land was 468 GJ/ha (SE:75.78) for organicfarming and 365 GJ/ha (SE: 60.91) for conventional farming due to tractor using. There was nosignificant difference between the energy consumed by tractor use (p= 0.55, n=32) and the amount of fertilizer used (p= 0.087,n= 32). CO2 equivalent values of emissions from organic andconventional areas were 97 tons CO2-eq/ha (SE:15.70) and 76 tons CO2-eq/ha(SE:12.66), respectively. There wasno difference between the organic and conventional farming on the carbonemissions levels (p=0.55, n=32) but the difference was on individual practicesincluding fertilizer type and the amount of time tractor used. &nbsp;Keywords:carbon footprint, agriculture, organic farming, vegetable production</p