Hemp Seed Production: Environmental Impacts of Cannabis sativa L. Agronomic Practices by Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Carbon Footprint Methodologies

Enio Campiglia, Laura Gobbi, Alvaro Marucci, Mattia Rapa, Roberto Ruggieri and Giuliana Vinci
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Enio Campiglia: Departament of Agriculture and Forest Sciences, Tuscia University, Via San Camillo de Lellis snc, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Alvaro Marucci: Departament of Agriculture and Forest Sciences, Tuscia University, Via San Camillo de Lellis snc, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Mattia Rapa: Departament of Management, Sapienza University of Rome, Via del Castro Laurenziano 9, 00161 Rome, Italy
Roberto Ruggieri: Departament of Management, Sapienza University of Rome, Via del Castro Laurenziano 9, 00161 Rome, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 16, 1-15

Abstract: This paper evaluated the environmental impacts of different agronomic practices for a hemp seed crop grown in Mediterranean environment. The following agricultural variables have been considered: seven monoecious hemp varieties(Epsilon68 (E68), Fedora17 (F17), Felina32 (F32), Ferimon (Fe), Futura75 (F75), Santhica27 (S27), Uso31 (U31)), three plant densities (40, 80, and 120 plants m −2 ), and two levels of nitrogen (N) fertilization (50 and 100 kg ha −1 of N). Life cycle assessment (LCA) and carbon footprint (CF) methodologies have been applied to evaluate impacts. In all hemp genotypes, the impacts grew by decreasing both N fertilizer and plants densities. The scenario most impacting was E68/F75/S27 genotypes cultivated with 50 kg ha −1 of N fertilizer and 40 plants m −2 , while the lowest one was Fe with 100 kg ha −1 of N fertilizer and 120 plants m −2 . The highest CF was found for E68/F75/S27 cultivated with 50 kg ha −1 of N fertilizer and 40 plants m −2 (18.720 kg CO 2 eq). This study highlighted the most environmentally sustainable agronomic practices to support farmer and decision maker in Cannabis sativa L. cultivation for seed production.

Keywords: industrial hemp; environmental impact; farmer practices; hemp seed cultivation; LCA; carbon footprint (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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