Life cycle assessment of cultivating lettuce and escarole in Spain

Exportation of fresh vegetable products, especially to northern European countries, have expanded significantly in recent years in Spain in response to the demand of developed countries for fresh and high-quality products all year round. Many of these products are produced intensively in protected or semi-protected (mulched) cropping systems. The methodology selected for the environmental study was Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The cropping systems were unheated greenhouse (GH), plastic mulch combined with fleece (PM + F), plastic mulch (PM) and open field (OF). The effects of different nitrogen fertiliser application rates (0%, 25%, 50%, 100%, 125% and 150% of an optimum rate) were evaluated for each system. The aim of this analysis was to identify and study the main environmental problems of producing lettuce and escarole in Spain under different production systems and at different N management application levels. The LCA methodology proved to be a useful tool to evaluate the environmental burdens of producing two leafy crops in Spain. The environmental results were very similar for two crops, but the escarole crop produced a major contribution in all impact categories due to lower commercial yields. The main burdens in the production systems were structure, auxiliary equipment and fertilisers. GH was the production system with the largest environmental impact in all categories and crops due to the greenhouse structure. Improving design of the greenhouse structure and the irrigation system and using recycled materials could produce significant impact reduction. The reduction and optimising of N fertiliser application should be considered a priority to improve the environmental impact of the different cultivation systems. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.