E Feijóo, J Tonatto, LP Garolera De Nucci, LG Alonso and ER Romero
Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres, William Cross 3150, Las Talitas – Tucumán, Argentina;
In the search for sustainable agricultural systems, it is essential to quantify the environmental impacts of various management practices to make informed decisions on farm sustainability and achieve positive ecological outcomes. This study aims to estimate GHG emissions in sugarcane production under the agroecological conditions of a locality in Tucumán, using different nitrogen fertilizers and considering the collection of harvest residues for potential bioenergy use at a sugar mill. The analysis includes cultural practices, diesel fuel consumption, agrochemical application, and harvesting operations to determine the amount of raw material produced under two systems, depending on the nitrogen fertilizer used: calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) (67.5 kg N/ha) and urea (115 kg N/ha). GHG emissions were estimated using the Cool Farm Tool (version 2.0). Total emissions per hectare were 1,628 kg CO2e/ha with CAN and 2,346 kg CO2e/ha with urea. GHG emissions per ton of sugarcane were 24.08 kg CO2e/t for CAN and 35.26 kg CO2e/t for urea. Emissions related to the conditioning of harvest residues for potential bioenergy use were estimated at 83.5 kg CO2e/ha for both systems. Results indicate that using CAN as a nitrogen source reduces GHG emissions, with agronomic and operational benefits during its application stage. Diesel-related emissions in agricultural operations were also significant in both systems.