Over the past two years, a team of FAO (UN) experts in Uzbekistan has conducted a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study in the fruit and vegetable sector, reports EastFruit.
LCA is a methodology for assessing the environmental impacts of a product or system throughout its entire life cycle — from raw material extraction to disposal. The study was carried out in accordance with international standards ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006, which regulate Life Cycle Assessment procedures.
The LCA results for annual crops (onion, potato, watermelon, strawberry) show a strong dependence of the environmental footprint on irrigation and fertigation technologies, confirming the high efficiency of modern irrigation systems. Switching from traditional furrow irrigation to drip irrigation (SDI/MDI) is a key factor in reducing impacts across all three major indicators — carbon footprint, water footprint and eutrophication potential.
Onions and potatoes demonstrate the strongest overall effect when switching to standard drip irrigation and fertigation (SDI):
— a 35–40% reduction in carbon footprint;
— more than a twofold reduction in water footprint and eutrophication.
Early watermelon (protected–open field system) shows a relatively low reduction in carbon footprint (–12%) when switching to SDI, due to the high share of CO₂ emissions associated with material-intensive temporary structures — hoop houses and tunnel greenhouses, including seedling production.
Garden strawberry has a particularly “seedling‑intensive” impact profile. This crop has a high absolute carbon footprint; switching to SDI reduces it by only 15%, while water use and eutrophication decrease more than twofold. The key driver of the carbon footprint remains the carbon-intensive seedling production.
Read also: Five facts about the environmental impact of fruit and vegetable cultivation in Uzbekistan
The analysis of the carbon footprint structure for these crops under Uzbekistan’s conditions highlights the main impact sources:
Critical point №1: nitrogen fertilizers (N).
For onions and potatoes, nitrogen is the main source of emissions — 52–60% of total CO₂ per ton of product under furrow irrigation.
Critical point №2: water consumption and electricity.
Switching to drip irrigation significantly changes the emission structure: the share of electricity increases from 12–15% (furrow) to 25–48% (SDI/MDI), while the share of fertilizers decreases. This creates new dependencies and requires a comprehensive approach to energy efficiency.
Within the project, experts assessed the effectiveness of solutions for optimizing the cultivation of annual crops in Uzbekistan:
Precision irrigation/fertigation systems (SDI/MDI):
— water savings up to 70%;
— carbon footprint reduction up to 50%;
— eutrophication reduction by 40–70%;
— reduced nitrogen fertilizer application and nitrous oxide emissions;
— CO₂ emissions from nitrogen fertilizers reduced by 25–70%.
Solar energy (PV):
Using solar mini‑stations to power SDI/MDI systems provides an additional carbon footprint reduction of up to 14%.
Weather stations and soil‑moisture monitoring systems:
— additional water savings up to 20%;
— improved nutrient management;
— additional CO₂ emission reductions up to 9%.
Combined effect:
The integrated application of technologies (SDI/MDI + renewable energy + weather stations + soil‑moisture monitoring) provides the maximum impact:
— water consumption reduced by 1.5 to 4 times;
— eutrophication reduced by 1.7 to 4.3 times;
— carbon footprint reduced by 15–58% compared to traditional furrow irrigation.
The full results of the study will be provided to the relevant government agencies of Uzbekistan to support future measures aimed at minimizing environmental impacts from the country’s expanding fruit and vegetable production.
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