Measuring carbon footprints of major crops in China: spatial distribution features and carbon burdens from both production and consumption perspectives

Abstract Due to imbalanced economic development and agricultural structure, agricultural goods and their embodied carbon emissions present significant disparities in different Chinese provinces. This study constructs a sectoral multi-regional input–output (MRIO) model to account for agricultural carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) emissions from both production and consumption-based perspectives. This model integrates crop-specific emission factors for six major crops across 31 Chinese provinces. The results show that production-based emissions are mainly concentrated in Heilongjiang (47.7 Tg CO₂e), Henan (49.57 Tg CO₂e), and Hunan (44.39 Tg CO₂e), while consumption-based emissions are mainly concentrated in Guangdong (57.84 Tg CO₂e), Shanghai (34.12 Tg CO₂e), and Beijing (17.97 Tg CO₂e). From a crop type perspective, Henan, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Hebei contributed 64.76% of the total wheat production emission, while Heilongjiang alone accounted for approximately 33.6% of the total soybean production emission. Both Guangdong (12.06 Tg CO₂e) and Shanghai (12.71 Tg CO₂e) heavily relied on major crop producing regions, while Jiangsu had a limited value-added outflow, even though with a net carbon outflow of 9.98 Tg CO₂e. These findings provide valuable insights on preparing region-specific agricultural carbon mitigation strategies.