Agri-environmental indicators regarding Broccoli cultivation: a case study in Pella, Greece

The effects of climate change could directly affect agricultural production. The related greenhouse-gas-emissions during agricultural production has negative impact on the agri-food sector, as well as the use of water resources. Broccoli is a widespread crop in eastern Mediterranean area, which is highly–valued due to its flavor and its nutritional values. The main aim of this study was to estimate agri-environmental indicators of broccoli crops in Pella, Central-Macedonia. Sixteen farms were selected and studied for three cultivation periods. The specific objectives of this study were to: i) apply an adjusted LCA-method to estimate the energy indicators and the carbon and water footprints of two different broccoli varieties (Parthenon and Triton), ii) compare the two different varieties per cultivation period and each cultivar between the different cultivation periods, and iii) identify the most-friendly to the environment broccoli cultivar, but also which cultivation period was the best for each cultivar. Fuel, fertilizers and irrigations represented the largest energy inputs for both varieties and for all the cultivation periods. Although the two varieties appear to have the same input requirements, there is a differentiation in their productivity through the cultivation periods, which led to increased use of blue water for the Triton F1 hybrid compared to that of Parthenon. Parthenon was more demanding in irrigation inputs than Triton when rainfall was low. High rainfall could have led to high fungicide inputs in some cultivation periods for both varieties. Cultivation periods with high fungal diseases led to low outputs for Triton F1 hybrid, while those with low fungal disease showed high outputs for Triton, which led to high energy use efficiency. It is concluded that the studied agri-environmental indicators could lead to the selection of the best broccoli cultivar to reduce the required inputs and the negative impact on the environment, without affecting crop yields.