How land allocation and technology innovation affect the sustainability of agriculture in Argentina Pampas: an expanded life cycle analysis

Autores
Rotolo, Gloria Claudia; Montico, Sergio; Francis, C.A.; Ulgiati, Sergio
Año de publicación
2015
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
Pampas region grows more than 80% of Argentina's main crops, with maize (Zea maiz L.), soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) producing crop and landscape homogeneity that reduces biodiversity, agricultural system resilience and current and future regional welfare. With growing population and markets, there is a call for new agricultural patterns to meet increased food demand, together with concern for reducing environmental impact and improving social welfare. These challenges need rigorous approaches to measuring technological change costs and benefits as well as evaluating environmental impact of farmers' management practices. The objectives of this study are: [1] to evaluate resource use and environmental impact of current agricultural patterns in the northern part of Pampas region, [2] to contrast this with agricultural systems of previous decades, and [3] to analyze the incidence on space and time scales of the different proportions of land allocated to these three crops. Life cycle evaluations of cropping systems enlarge the scope of the analysis and help identify how problems might be solved. We utilize the SUMMA (SUstainability Multimethod Multiscale Assessment) framework for assessing the performance of integrated crop production in the northern Pampas in the years 1986–87, 1995–96, and 2009–10 based on actual land use data, compared to current systems with similar proportions of land distribution for the three crops, and to a wheat/soybean annual system. We also simulate other potential alternative land distribution scenarios. Results indicate a worsening of 9 to 12 out of 15 environmental indicators per unit of area (density of impacts), while there is an improvement per unit of product or income. The grain yield accounted in energy per hectare increased three times in relation to the year of reference (1986), while the energy demand decreased by 32%, blue water demand increased 50%. Acidification increased more than twice (7.99 kg SO2 eq./ha), while carbon emissions (982 kg CO2 eq./ha in 2009) decreased. These results provide a benchmark for further studies where new alternatives of crop distribution may prove environmentally and economically desirable choices for farmers in the Pampas.
EEA Oliveros
Fil: Rotolo, Gloria Claudia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Oliveros; Argentina
Fil: Montico, Sergio. Univesidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Department of Land Science and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences; Argentina
Fil: Francis, C.A. Norwegian University of Life Sciences. Department of Plant and Environmental Science; Noruega. University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Department of Agronomy and Horticulture; Estados Unidos
Fil: Ulgiati, S. Parthenope University. Department of Sciences and Technologies; Italia
Fuente
Agricultural systems 141 : 79-93. (December 2015)
Materia
Asignación de Tierras
Tecnología
Innovación
Sostenibilidad
Agricultura
Land Allocation
Technology
Innovation
Sustainability
Agriculture
Región Pampeana
Sustentabilidad
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso restringido
Condiciones de uso
Repositorio
INTA Digital (INTA)
Institución
Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
OAI Identificador
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spelling How land allocation and technology innovation affect the sustainability of agriculture in Argentina Pampas: an expanded life cycle analysisRotolo, Gloria ClaudiaMontico, SergioFrancis, C.A.Ulgiati, SergioAsignación de TierrasTecnologíaInnovaciónSostenibilidadAgriculturaLand AllocationTechnologyInnovationSustainabilityAgricultureRegión PampeanaSustentabilidadPampas region grows more than 80% of Argentina's main crops, with maize (Zea maiz L.), soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) producing crop and landscape homogeneity that reduces biodiversity, agricultural system resilience and current and future regional welfare. With growing population and markets, there is a call for new agricultural patterns to meet increased food demand, together with concern for reducing environmental impact and improving social welfare. These challenges need rigorous approaches to measuring technological change costs and benefits as well as evaluating environmental impact of farmers' management practices. The objectives of this study are: [1] to evaluate resource use and environmental impact of current agricultural patterns in the northern part of Pampas region, [2] to contrast this with agricultural systems of previous decades, and [3] to analyze the incidence on space and time scales of the different proportions of land allocated to these three crops. Life cycle evaluations of cropping systems enlarge the scope of the analysis and help identify how problems might be solved. We utilize the SUMMA (SUstainability Multimethod Multiscale Assessment) framework for assessing the performance of integrated crop production in the northern Pampas in the years 1986–87, 1995–96, and 2009–10 based on actual land use data, compared to current systems with similar proportions of land distribution for the three crops, and to a wheat/soybean annual system. We also simulate other potential alternative land distribution scenarios. Results indicate a worsening of 9 to 12 out of 15 environmental indicators per unit of area (density of impacts), while there is an improvement per unit of product or income. The grain yield accounted in energy per hectare increased three times in relation to the year of reference (1986), while the energy demand decreased by 32%, blue water demand increased 50%. Acidification increased more than twice (7.99 kg SO2 eq./ha), while carbon emissions (982 kg CO2 eq./ha in 2009) decreased. These results provide a benchmark for further studies where new alternatives of crop distribution may prove environmentally and economically desirable choices for farmers in the Pampas.EEA OliverosFil: Rotolo, Gloria Claudia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Oliveros; ArgentinaFil: Montico, Sergio. Univesidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Department of Land Science and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences; ArgentinaFil: Francis, C.A. Norwegian University of Life Sciences. Department of Plant and Environmental Science; Noruega. University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Department of Agronomy and Horticulture; Estados UnidosFil: Ulgiati, S. Parthenope University. Department of Sciences and Technologies; Italia2018-05-29T14:13:34Z2018-05-29T14:13:34Z2015-12info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X15300172http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/25060308-521Xhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2015.08.005Agricultural systems 141 : 79-93. (December 2015)reponame:INTA Digital (INTA)instname:Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuariaenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess2025-09-29T13:44:19Zoai:localhost:20.500.12123/2506instacron:INTAInstitucionalhttp://repositorio.inta.gob.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://repositorio.inta.gob.ar/oai/requesttripaldi.nicolas@inta.gob.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:l2025-09-29 13:44:19.866INTA Digital (INTA) - Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuariafalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv How land allocation and technology innovation affect the sustainability of agriculture in Argentina Pampas: an expanded life cycle analysis
title How land allocation and technology innovation affect the sustainability of agriculture in Argentina Pampas: an expanded life cycle analysis
spellingShingle How land allocation and technology innovation affect the sustainability of agriculture in Argentina Pampas: an expanded life cycle analysis
Rotolo, Gloria Claudia
Asignación de Tierras
Tecnología
Innovación
Sostenibilidad
Agricultura
Land Allocation
Technology
Innovation
Sustainability
Agriculture
Región Pampeana
Sustentabilidad
title_short How land allocation and technology innovation affect the sustainability of agriculture in Argentina Pampas: an expanded life cycle analysis
title_full How land allocation and technology innovation affect the sustainability of agriculture in Argentina Pampas: an expanded life cycle analysis
title_fullStr How land allocation and technology innovation affect the sustainability of agriculture in Argentina Pampas: an expanded life cycle analysis
title_full_unstemmed How land allocation and technology innovation affect the sustainability of agriculture in Argentina Pampas: an expanded life cycle analysis
title_sort How land allocation and technology innovation affect the sustainability of agriculture in Argentina Pampas: an expanded life cycle analysis
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Rotolo, Gloria Claudia
Montico, Sergio
Francis, C.A.
Ulgiati, Sergio
author Rotolo, Gloria Claudia
author_facet Rotolo, Gloria Claudia
Montico, Sergio
Francis, C.A.
Ulgiati, Sergio
author_role author
author2 Montico, Sergio
Francis, C.A.
Ulgiati, Sergio
author2_role author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Asignación de Tierras
Tecnología
Innovación
Sostenibilidad
Agricultura
Land Allocation
Technology
Innovation
Sustainability
Agriculture
Región Pampeana
Sustentabilidad
topic Asignación de Tierras
Tecnología
Innovación
Sostenibilidad
Agricultura
Land Allocation
Technology
Innovation
Sustainability
Agriculture
Región Pampeana
Sustentabilidad
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv Pampas region grows more than 80% of Argentina's main crops, with maize (Zea maiz L.), soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) producing crop and landscape homogeneity that reduces biodiversity, agricultural system resilience and current and future regional welfare. With growing population and markets, there is a call for new agricultural patterns to meet increased food demand, together with concern for reducing environmental impact and improving social welfare. These challenges need rigorous approaches to measuring technological change costs and benefits as well as evaluating environmental impact of farmers' management practices. The objectives of this study are: [1] to evaluate resource use and environmental impact of current agricultural patterns in the northern part of Pampas region, [2] to contrast this with agricultural systems of previous decades, and [3] to analyze the incidence on space and time scales of the different proportions of land allocated to these three crops. Life cycle evaluations of cropping systems enlarge the scope of the analysis and help identify how problems might be solved. We utilize the SUMMA (SUstainability Multimethod Multiscale Assessment) framework for assessing the performance of integrated crop production in the northern Pampas in the years 1986–87, 1995–96, and 2009–10 based on actual land use data, compared to current systems with similar proportions of land distribution for the three crops, and to a wheat/soybean annual system. We also simulate other potential alternative land distribution scenarios. Results indicate a worsening of 9 to 12 out of 15 environmental indicators per unit of area (density of impacts), while there is an improvement per unit of product or income. The grain yield accounted in energy per hectare increased three times in relation to the year of reference (1986), while the energy demand decreased by 32%, blue water demand increased 50%. Acidification increased more than twice (7.99 kg SO2 eq./ha), while carbon emissions (982 kg CO2 eq./ha in 2009) decreased. These results provide a benchmark for further studies where new alternatives of crop distribution may prove environmentally and economically desirable choices for farmers in the Pampas.
EEA Oliveros
Fil: Rotolo, Gloria Claudia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Oliveros; Argentina
Fil: Montico, Sergio. Univesidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Department of Land Science and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences; Argentina
Fil: Francis, C.A. Norwegian University of Life Sciences. Department of Plant and Environmental Science; Noruega. University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Department of Agronomy and Horticulture; Estados Unidos
Fil: Ulgiati, S. Parthenope University. Department of Sciences and Technologies; Italia
description Pampas region grows more than 80% of Argentina's main crops, with maize (Zea maiz L.), soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) producing crop and landscape homogeneity that reduces biodiversity, agricultural system resilience and current and future regional welfare. With growing population and markets, there is a call for new agricultural patterns to meet increased food demand, together with concern for reducing environmental impact and improving social welfare. These challenges need rigorous approaches to measuring technological change costs and benefits as well as evaluating environmental impact of farmers' management practices. The objectives of this study are: [1] to evaluate resource use and environmental impact of current agricultural patterns in the northern part of Pampas region, [2] to contrast this with agricultural systems of previous decades, and [3] to analyze the incidence on space and time scales of the different proportions of land allocated to these three crops. Life cycle evaluations of cropping systems enlarge the scope of the analysis and help identify how problems might be solved. We utilize the SUMMA (SUstainability Multimethod Multiscale Assessment) framework for assessing the performance of integrated crop production in the northern Pampas in the years 1986–87, 1995–96, and 2009–10 based on actual land use data, compared to current systems with similar proportions of land distribution for the three crops, and to a wheat/soybean annual system. We also simulate other potential alternative land distribution scenarios. Results indicate a worsening of 9 to 12 out of 15 environmental indicators per unit of area (density of impacts), while there is an improvement per unit of product or income. The grain yield accounted in energy per hectare increased three times in relation to the year of reference (1986), while the energy demand decreased by 32%, blue water demand increased 50%. Acidification increased more than twice (7.99 kg SO2 eq./ha), while carbon emissions (982 kg CO2 eq./ha in 2009) decreased. These results provide a benchmark for further studies where new alternatives of crop distribution may prove environmentally and economically desirable choices for farmers in the Pampas.
publishDate 2015
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2015-12
2018-05-29T14:13:34Z
2018-05-29T14:13:34Z
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X15300172
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/2506
0308-521X
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2015.08.005
url https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X15300172
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/2506
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2015.08.005
identifier_str_mv 0308-521X
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess
eu_rights_str_mv restrictedAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Agricultural systems 141 : 79-93. (December 2015)
reponame:INTA Digital (INTA)
instname:Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
reponame_str INTA Digital (INTA)
collection INTA Digital (INTA)
instname_str Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
repository.name.fl_str_mv INTA Digital (INTA) - Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
repository.mail.fl_str_mv tripaldi.nicolas@inta.gob.ar
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