The environmental performance of Swedish food production : an analysis of agri-environmental indicators
In the European Union 43.5% of the land area is used for agricultural purposes, providing food, feed and fiber for the population, but also causing detrimental environmental impact. Agri-environmental indicators (AEIs) are used to measure, and communicate environmental performance of agriculture,...
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| Formato: | H3 |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés sueco |
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SLU/Dept. of Soil and Environment
2018
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| Materias: |
| _version_ | 1855572289833140224 |
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| author | Behaderovic, Danira |
| author_browse | Behaderovic, Danira |
| author_facet | Behaderovic, Danira |
| author_sort | Behaderovic, Danira |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | In the European Union 43.5% of the land area is used for agricultural purposes,
providing food, feed and fiber for the population, but also causing detrimental environmental
impact. Agri-environmental indicators (AEIs) are used to measure, and
communicate environmental performance of agriculture, and serve as important tools
to develop and evaluate progress of agri-environmental policy and measures.
In this paper, commonly used AEIs for describing some of the biggest environmental
issues coupled to agriculture, are analyzed, and applied to Sweden, to describe
the present environmental performance of Swedish food production. An international
comparison, including countries with similar climatic and agricultural conditions to
Sweden, is used as support for discussing the difference in performance and the underlying
causes. Novel indicators are also presented: Nutrient leaching per kg protein,
and Ammonia emission per kg milk/meat, to visualize the link between food
production and environmental impact. The paper is mainly based on a literature review,
and the analysis and processing of data from Eurostat, OECD, FAO and EEA.
In comparison to the countries presented in this paper, Sweden has a high environmental
performance in Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), Gross nutrient balance,
Nutrient leaching, Ammonia emissions (NH3) and Pesticide use, when expressed in
kg/ha. The performance for the indicators Nitrate pollution of groundwater and Agricultural
water use was also high (above average). The performance was low (below
average) when NH3 emission was expressed in mass units (kg/ton), for beef meat.
The performance was average for the indicator Soil erosion. The performance was
also average when Nutrient leaching, GHG and NH3 emissions (pig, poultry and
milk) were expressed in mass units (kg/kg). The overall high performance of Swedish
food production is mainly explained by low nutrient inputs and low livestock densities
in Sweden, compared to the other countries in this study.
Driving force and pressure indicators do not always manage to predict environmental
performance, i.e. a high use of mineral fertilizers or a high gross nutrient balance
does not necessarily mean that nutrient leaching is correspondently high. Natural
conditions (soil type and precipitation) are likely a part of the explanation. The
functional unit had great impact on the results, when the functional unit was mass
based (kg), instead of land based (ha), countries with intensive production (high Animal-
or Plant-Protein production per ha) were favored. When using mass based indicators
(kg), the total environmental impact might still be high, even if the indicator
result indicates low impact, thus mass based indicators should not be used alone if
the aim is to describe total environmental impact. |
| format | H3 |
| id | RepoSLU13708 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | Inglés swe |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publishDateSort | 2018 |
| publisher | SLU/Dept. of Soil and Environment |
| publisherStr | SLU/Dept. of Soil and Environment |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU137082019-02-26T14:08:39Z The environmental performance of Swedish food production : an analysis of agri-environmental indicators Miljöprestanda för svensk livsmedelsproduktion : en analys av miljöindikatorer för jordbruket Behaderovic, Danira nutrient leaching nitrogen phosphorus greenhouse gases ammonia pesticides In the European Union 43.5% of the land area is used for agricultural purposes, providing food, feed and fiber for the population, but also causing detrimental environmental impact. Agri-environmental indicators (AEIs) are used to measure, and communicate environmental performance of agriculture, and serve as important tools to develop and evaluate progress of agri-environmental policy and measures. In this paper, commonly used AEIs for describing some of the biggest environmental issues coupled to agriculture, are analyzed, and applied to Sweden, to describe the present environmental performance of Swedish food production. An international comparison, including countries with similar climatic and agricultural conditions to Sweden, is used as support for discussing the difference in performance and the underlying causes. Novel indicators are also presented: Nutrient leaching per kg protein, and Ammonia emission per kg milk/meat, to visualize the link between food production and environmental impact. The paper is mainly based on a literature review, and the analysis and processing of data from Eurostat, OECD, FAO and EEA. In comparison to the countries presented in this paper, Sweden has a high environmental performance in Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), Gross nutrient balance, Nutrient leaching, Ammonia emissions (NH3) and Pesticide use, when expressed in kg/ha. The performance for the indicators Nitrate pollution of groundwater and Agricultural water use was also high (above average). The performance was low (below average) when NH3 emission was expressed in mass units (kg/ton), for beef meat. The performance was average for the indicator Soil erosion. The performance was also average when Nutrient leaching, GHG and NH3 emissions (pig, poultry and milk) were expressed in mass units (kg/kg). The overall high performance of Swedish food production is mainly explained by low nutrient inputs and low livestock densities in Sweden, compared to the other countries in this study. Driving force and pressure indicators do not always manage to predict environmental performance, i.e. a high use of mineral fertilizers or a high gross nutrient balance does not necessarily mean that nutrient leaching is correspondently high. Natural conditions (soil type and precipitation) are likely a part of the explanation. The functional unit had great impact on the results, when the functional unit was mass based (kg), instead of land based (ha), countries with intensive production (high Animal- or Plant-Protein production per ha) were favored. When using mass based indicators (kg), the total environmental impact might still be high, even if the indicator result indicates low impact, thus mass based indicators should not be used alone if the aim is to describe total environmental impact. Av den totala landytan i EU används 43.5% för jordbruksändamål, och förser samhället med livsmedel, foder och fiber, men bidrar också till negativ miljöpåverkan. Miljöindikatorer för jordbruket (AEIs) används för att mäta och kommunicera miljöprestanda inom jordbruket och tjänar som viktiga verktyg för att utveckla och utvärdera framsteg inom miljöpolitiken och åtgärdsarbetet som följer av denna. I denna uppsats, analyseras och appliceras ett urval av de miljöindikatorer som vanligen används för att beskriva några vanliga jordbruksrelaterade miljöproblem, för att beskriva nuvarande miljöprestanda för svensk livsmedelsproduktion. En internationell jämförelse, som inkluderar länder med liknande klimat- och jordbruksförhållanden som Sverige, används som underlag för att diskutera skillnaden i miljöprestanda och de bakomliggande orsakerna. Nya indikatorer presenteras även: Läckage av näringsämnen per kg protein och Ammoniakutsläpp per kg mjölk/kött, för att synliggöra sambandet mellan livsmedelsproduktion och miljöpåverkan. Uppsatsen är huvudsakligen baserad på en litteraturstudie, samt analys och bearbetning av data från Eurostat, OECD, FAO och EEA. Jämförelsevis, med länderna i denna uppsats, har Sverige en hög miljöprestanda för indikatorerna Växthusgasutsläpp, Brutto näringsbalans, Näringsläckage, Ammoniakutsläpp (NH3) och Användning av bekämpningsmedel, uttryckt i kg/ha. Miljöprestandan för Jordbrukets vattenanvändning och Nitratförorening av grundvatten var även den hög. För indikatorn Jorderosion, var prestandan genomsnittlig. Prestandan var också genomsnittlig när näringsläckage, utsläpp av växthusgaser och ammoniakemissioner (för gris, fjäderfä och mjölk) uttrycktes i massenheter (kg/kg). Miljöprestandan var låg för indikatorn Ammoniakutsläpp (för nötkött), när denna uttrycktes i massenheter (kg/ton). Så kallade ”Driving force” och ”Pressure” indikatorer misslyckas i vissa fall att förutsäga miljöprestanda, det vill säga en hög användning av mineralgödselmedel eller en hög brutto näringsbalans betyder inte nödvändigtvis att utlakning av näringsämnen är motsvarande hög. Naturgivna förhållanden (jordart och nederbörd) är sannolikt en del av förklaringen. Val av funktionell enhet inverkar på resultaten. En massbaserad (kg), istället för landbaserad (ha) funktionell enhet, är till fördel för länder med intensiv produktion (hög näringstillförsel och hög djurtäthet). Ett lågt beräknat värde för en massbaserad indikator (kg) kan dölja en stor miljöpåverkan, varför massbaserade indikatorer inte ska användas ensamma om syftet är att beskriva den totala miljöpåverkan. SLU/Dept. of Soil and Environment 2018 H3 eng swe https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/13708/ |
| spellingShingle | nutrient leaching nitrogen phosphorus greenhouse gases ammonia pesticides Behaderovic, Danira The environmental performance of Swedish food production : an analysis of agri-environmental indicators |
| title | The environmental performance of Swedish food production : an analysis of agri-environmental indicators |
| title_full | The environmental performance of Swedish food production : an analysis of agri-environmental indicators |
| title_fullStr | The environmental performance of Swedish food production : an analysis of agri-environmental indicators |
| title_full_unstemmed | The environmental performance of Swedish food production : an analysis of agri-environmental indicators |
| title_short | The environmental performance of Swedish food production : an analysis of agri-environmental indicators |
| title_sort | environmental performance of swedish food production : an analysis of agri-environmental indicators |
| topic | nutrient leaching nitrogen phosphorus greenhouse gases ammonia pesticides |