A global LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) study in Uzbekistan’s fruit and vegetable sector has been conducted by a team of FAO (UN) experts. LCA is a methodology used to assess the environmental impacts of a product or system across all stages of its life cycle — from raw material extraction to end‑of‑life disposal, notes EastFruit.
The study was carried out in accordance with international standards ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006, which regulate life cycle assessment procedures. Compliance with this methodology ensures a systematic, comprehensive, scientifically grounded and comparable evaluation.
The project covers three major horticultural production systems, each characterized by distinct drivers of environmental pressure and varying potential for impact reduction.
Open‑field cultivation of potatoes, vegetables, melons and berries (annual crops).
Key impact drivers include inefficient water use (furrow irrigation) and eutrophication of water bodies caused by nutrient runoff. A transition to drip irrigation with fertigation is identified as the main mitigation measure, enabling reductions of up to 60% in water consumption and eutrophication footprint, and up to 40% in carbon footprint.
Perennial plantations (orchards and vineyards).
This system presents a dual challenge: while acting as a net sink of CO₂ — a natural “carbon bank” — it is also one of the largest consumers of water resources. The introduction of subsurface drip irrigation with fertigation helps resolve this trade‑off by enhancing carbon sequestration and reducing water use by 60–70%. An additional benefit is a 3–4‑fold decrease in nitrogen and phosphorus pollution potential.
Protected cultivation (greenhouses).
The dominant factor shaping the environmental footprint here is the energy required for heating. The carbon footprint of greenhouses using coal exceeds that of gas‑heated greenhouses by more than 50%. Given the market’s technological unpreparedness for widespread adoption of renewable energy sources for heating, replacing coal with natural gas is considered the only feasible medium‑term solution for significantly reducing the carbon burden.
As a result, a comparative quantitative assessment of the environmental footprint of Uzbekistan’s key horticultural crops under different production systems was conducted, identifying priority areas and technologies capable of delivering the greatest reductions in climate and water impacts.
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