Environmental assessment of maize production alternatives: Traditional, intensive and GMO-based cropping patterns
The evolution of maize production patterns in Argentina is evaluated over the last 25 years to compare costs, benefits, environmental performance and sustainability as well as to identify the main driving sources and improvement potential. Results from Argentina cropping systems are compared to othe...
| Autores principales: | , , , |
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| Formato: | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2018
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X15001661 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/2508 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.03.036 |
| _version_ | 1855034976190332928 |
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| author | Rotolo, Gloria Claudia Francis, C.A. Craviotto, Roque Mario Ulgiati, Sergio |
| author_browse | Craviotto, Roque Mario Francis, C.A. Rotolo, Gloria Claudia Ulgiati, Sergio |
| author_facet | Rotolo, Gloria Claudia Francis, C.A. Craviotto, Roque Mario Ulgiati, Sergio |
| author_sort | Rotolo, Gloria Claudia |
| collection | INTA Digital |
| description | The evolution of maize production patterns in Argentina is evaluated over the last 25 years to compare costs, benefits, environmental performance and sustainability as well as to identify the main driving sources and improvement potential. Results from Argentina cropping systems are compared to other systems worldwide in order to put the Argentina results in a broader context. The study focuses on three farming categories: (1) traditional, low-intensity systems, (2) conventional, high-intensity systems, and (3) GMO-based cropping systems. Low input intensity systems include traditional cropping patterns with seed selection by farmers and conventional hybrid seed coupled to plowing and crop-animal rotation techniques; high input intensity systems use conventional hybrid seeds and recommended chemicals, irrigation and machinery with important soil erosion consequences; and GMO-based cropping systems use herbicide resistant transgenic hybrids, pesticides, higher fertilizer rates, and no-till practices. In each of the three cases, input flows are compared to the achieved yield (in mass and income terms) to better understand relative efficiencies and options for improvement. The study of GMO systems required a preliminary investigation of GMO seed production by seed companies, where a large investment in terms of prior knowledge and high-tech laboratory research is required. The assessments used the Emergy Accounting (EMA) approach. EMA includes material, energy, labor, money, and knowledge flows into the assessment and expands its focus over larger time and spatial scales than conventional economic and cumulative energy demand methods. Emergy-based environmental indicators of grain production for high-intensity hybrid and GMO systems both show a lower performance than low-intensity, traditional patterns in terms of resource return, renewability and sustainability. The fraction of renewability in low-intensity systems is between 28% and 63%, while it is between 8% and 26% for high-intensity hybrid and GMO systems. Calculated indicators also show that GMO-based maize production patterns do not guarantee the expected improvement over conventional high-intensity cropping systems or low-intensity systems in terms of performance and sustainability. Strong reliance on nonrenewable resources and technology, as well as role of direct and indirect labor costs are important factors in determining long-term sustainability and environmental stability of maize production systems. |
| format | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| id | INTA2508 |
| institution | Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publishDateRange | 2018 |
| publishDateSort | 2018 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | INTA25082019-01-25T18:49:23Z Environmental assessment of maize production alternatives: Traditional, intensive and GMO-based cropping patterns Rotolo, Gloria Claudia Francis, C.A. Craviotto, Roque Mario Ulgiati, Sergio Maíz Organismos Modificados Genéticamente Ordenación de Cultivos Medio Ambiente Evaluación Assessment Maize Genetically Modified Organisms Cropping Patterns Environment The evolution of maize production patterns in Argentina is evaluated over the last 25 years to compare costs, benefits, environmental performance and sustainability as well as to identify the main driving sources and improvement potential. Results from Argentina cropping systems are compared to other systems worldwide in order to put the Argentina results in a broader context. The study focuses on three farming categories: (1) traditional, low-intensity systems, (2) conventional, high-intensity systems, and (3) GMO-based cropping systems. Low input intensity systems include traditional cropping patterns with seed selection by farmers and conventional hybrid seed coupled to plowing and crop-animal rotation techniques; high input intensity systems use conventional hybrid seeds and recommended chemicals, irrigation and machinery with important soil erosion consequences; and GMO-based cropping systems use herbicide resistant transgenic hybrids, pesticides, higher fertilizer rates, and no-till practices. In each of the three cases, input flows are compared to the achieved yield (in mass and income terms) to better understand relative efficiencies and options for improvement. The study of GMO systems required a preliminary investigation of GMO seed production by seed companies, where a large investment in terms of prior knowledge and high-tech laboratory research is required. The assessments used the Emergy Accounting (EMA) approach. EMA includes material, energy, labor, money, and knowledge flows into the assessment and expands its focus over larger time and spatial scales than conventional economic and cumulative energy demand methods. Emergy-based environmental indicators of grain production for high-intensity hybrid and GMO systems both show a lower performance than low-intensity, traditional patterns in terms of resource return, renewability and sustainability. The fraction of renewability in low-intensity systems is between 28% and 63%, while it is between 8% and 26% for high-intensity hybrid and GMO systems. Calculated indicators also show that GMO-based maize production patterns do not guarantee the expected improvement over conventional high-intensity cropping systems or low-intensity systems in terms of performance and sustainability. Strong reliance on nonrenewable resources and technology, as well as role of direct and indirect labor costs are important factors in determining long-term sustainability and environmental stability of maize production systems. EEA Oliveros Fil: Rotolo, Gloria Claudia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Oliveros; Argentina Fil: Francis, C.A. University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Department of Agronomy and Horticulture; Estados Unidos. Norwegian University of Life Sciences. Department of Plant Science; Noruega Fil: Craviotto, Roque Mario. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Oliveros; Argentina Fil: Ulgiati, S. Parthenope University. Department of Sciences and Technologies; Italia 2018-05-29T14:59:13Z 2018-05-29T14:59:13Z 2015-10 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X15001661 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/2508 1470-160X https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.03.036 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess application/pdf Ecological Indicators 57 : 48-60. (October 2015) |
| spellingShingle | Maíz Organismos Modificados Genéticamente Ordenación de Cultivos Medio Ambiente Evaluación Assessment Maize Genetically Modified Organisms Cropping Patterns Environment Rotolo, Gloria Claudia Francis, C.A. Craviotto, Roque Mario Ulgiati, Sergio Environmental assessment of maize production alternatives: Traditional, intensive and GMO-based cropping patterns |
| title | Environmental assessment of maize production alternatives: Traditional, intensive and GMO-based cropping patterns |
| title_full | Environmental assessment of maize production alternatives: Traditional, intensive and GMO-based cropping patterns |
| title_fullStr | Environmental assessment of maize production alternatives: Traditional, intensive and GMO-based cropping patterns |
| title_full_unstemmed | Environmental assessment of maize production alternatives: Traditional, intensive and GMO-based cropping patterns |
| title_short | Environmental assessment of maize production alternatives: Traditional, intensive and GMO-based cropping patterns |
| title_sort | environmental assessment of maize production alternatives traditional intensive and gmo based cropping patterns |
| topic | Maíz Organismos Modificados Genéticamente Ordenación de Cultivos Medio Ambiente Evaluación Assessment Maize Genetically Modified Organisms Cropping Patterns Environment |
| url | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X15001661 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/2508 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.03.036 |
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