External trade in grapes, tomatoes, and frozen products leads to the highest CO₂ emissions in Uzbekistan

Greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions from the external trade of fruit and vegetable products vary significantly depending on the type of exported goods and the specifics of their transportation. The highest carbon footprint is typical for perishable and refrigeration‑dependent products — such as berries, fresh fruits, tomatoes, and fresh herbs — which must be transported in refrigerated containers with continuous energy supply. Meanwhile, less sensitive products — for example, potatoes, onions, or dried fruits — can be transported without cooling and therefore have significantly lower specific CO₂ emissions. Thus, the composition of the export basket directly determines the overall climate footprint of agricultural trade and must be considered when developing decarbonization strategies.

The EastFruit project team identified which products involved in Uzbekistan’s export–import operations are the largest sources of CO₂ emissions.

Based on the calculations, three groups of exported products were distinguished according to the level of specific CO₂ emissions (kg/ton) with common characteristics:

1. Products with high specific emissions (fresh table grapes, fresh greenhouse tomatoes, frozen strawberries, sweet cherries).
2. Products with medium emission levels (fresh onions, dried grapes/raisins, watermelon, fresh apples).
3. Products with low specific emissions (fresh strawberries, frozen potatoes, dried onions, fresh potatoes, dried apples, ready‑to‑eat potato products).

Also read: How to Cut Transport Emissions by 95% in Fresh Produce Logistics?

The volume and structure of fruit and vegetable imports to Uzbekistan also have a significant impact on the associated greenhouse gas emissions. The climate burden of imported products depends not only on the country of origin but also on their physical and chemical properties and logistics conditions — factors that must be considered when shaping a sustainable import policy.

As the results of calculations show, a characteristic feature of imports for the selected product categories is the considerable length of transportation routes — with only 5 out of 14 analyzed product types having relatively short supply chains. In certain cases, such as bananas, mandarins, frozen potatoes, and frozen strawberries, transportation distances range from 3.7 to 17.5 thousand kilometers. These goods also rank among the leaders in terms of specific CO₂ emissions. Long transportation distances often necessitate the use of air freight — for example, in the delivery of fresh mandarins and frozen strawberries — which further increases their carbon footprint.