INTRODUCTION

From 2015 to 2017, The French national technical institute CTIFL as part of AGRIBALYSE program (ADEME, 2017) developed a project on fruit and vegetable production with two main aims :

- providing benchmark LCIs for 20 of the most consumed fruits and vegetables,

- looking for eco-design options to improve environmental performances and further engage the growers in sustainable practices.

The LCIs will be included in the next update of AGRIBALYSE database. From then, combined with other international references, benchmark LCIs for the 10 most consumed fruits and the 10 most

consumed vegetables in France will be available.

Centre Technique Interprofessionnel des Fruits et Légumes (CTIFL), route de Mollégès, 13210 Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France

Dominique Grasselly1, Maëlie Trédan1, Vincent Colomb2, Peter Koch3

1 Ctifl, route de Molleges, F13210 Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, 2 ADEME, 20 avenue de Grésillé, F49004 Angers Cedex 01 , 2 Koch Consulting, Röschibachstrasse 77, CH 8037 Zürich

ECO-DESIGN IN FRUIT AND VEGETABLE FARMING SYSTEMS.

AGRIBALYSE LEARNING WITH A FOCUS ON APPLE PRODUCTION.

RESULTS - DISCUSSION

Fig. 1. GHG emissions for different scenarios

Figure 1 shows the climate change indicator for the different scenarios and table 2 the results for

the 18 ILCD impact categories compared to a conventional baseline.

The rain covers induce a reduction of phytosanitary products use and tractor operations. However

the GHG benefits from these input reductions are outbalanced by the 10% yield reduction

expected, and the rain-cover installation operation. At the product level, the yield reduction

cancels all the benefit from the rain covers and leads to a 15% climate change increase. The

hypothesis of 10% yield reduction needs to be confirmed in the coming years. Also rain cover

could maybe be improved in order to lower the yield losses. If the benefit is limited on climate

change impact, the rain-cover-option is interesting regarding ecotoxicity, as it reduces by more

than four times the impact. This situation perfectly highlights possible burden shifts.

The fixed spraying system reduces tractor operations in the orchard, limiting soil compaction risks.

This installation enables farmers to act immediately after rain episodes against fungal diseases for

more efficiency, save time and labor, and reduce exposure risks for workers. GHG reduction could

be further improved by using French grid electricity instead of a tractor to activate the compressor.

However, this solution does not reduce significantly phytosanitary product use, and has therefore

little effect on toxicity impacts. Nevertheless, the management system "fixed spraying" is still

interesting for both conventional and organic orchards.

Scab tolerant/resistant cultivars are the only solution raising positive gain in all impact categories,

thanks to a reduction of spraying operations (less tractor use) and less phytosanitary product use.

The farmer depends on the availability of such cultivar, and the market demand for these fruits. So

far it represents only 10% of the production. Consumer education could be useful to further

develop this solution, as those cultivars have different properties than conventional ones:

conservation, aspect, taste etc. Also consumers tend to be more receptive to organic or zero

pesticide approach than a reduction (even if it is a large one). In any case, this is a promising

option for the future for conventional and organic systems.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

LCIs for national average apple were calculated in AGRIBALYSE 1. The results were presented

to a group of experts in apple production (growers, technicians and scientists). GHG emissions

hotspots were discussed and experts proposed some options to reduce environmental impacts,

based on technics developed in research centers or tested in innovative farms. These solutions

were incorporated within crop management system then assessed through LCA, always

following AGRIBALYSE methodology (Koch and Salou, 2016) and using Means tool (INRA,

2017) .

Five new management systems were studied :

- 1. Scab tolerant varieties

- 2. Rain cover

- 3. Fixed spraying system

- 4. Electric self-propelled platform

- 5. Fixed spraying system and electric platform

Fig.2. Impact of the five scenarios investigated, in % compared the base scenario (method: ReCiPe

midpoint 1.13). Red colored cells shows a worst environmental performance than the baseline

scenario, blue ones an improvement.

Conclusion

This preliminary work opens interesting perspective to improve apple environmental footprint. In the future, new farming technics will be available to the farmers, e.g. for pest

management, water use or tree fertilizing. Proving their efficiency will require sound environmental assessment. Also, taking into account wood carbon storage and grass strip

s soil carbon in the footprint could highlight new options and encourage producers to change the orchard's end of life management.

Finally, eco-design for fresh fruits and groceries should not only consider the farm stage, but also include post-harvesting operations like fruit storage, packaging or logistic, as

they unite a big share of environmental footprints of these products.

Scab tolerant varieties : Scab is the most common apple tree disease. This cultivar choice

reduces the number of fungicides : nine spraying and tractor operations less compared to

conventional varieties.

Rain cover : Rain cover protection allows tu reduce the risk of scab development and therefore

the number of fungicides treatments. Seven years life span was considered for the rain covers,

requiring changing once the equipment during the orchard life time. The reduction of light due to

the rain cover was taken into account, inducing a 10 % yield réduction. Additional irrigation was

also considered, in particular in the spring season.

Fixed spraying system : This system has proven to be efficient in experimental fields in France.

It does not reduce pesticides applications, but replaces the tractor spraying, reducing strongly

diesel use. In our simulation, a tractor is still needed for powering a compressor used to inject

phytosanitary products within the spraying system.

Electric self-propelled platform for pruning, clearing, harvesting, opening and closing hail

protection nettings.

Rain coverFixed spraying system (FSS)

Scab tolerant cultivar

Electric platform (EP)

FSS + EP

Climate change 15.50 -7.20 -8.10 -26.10 -31.80

Ozone depletion -15.60 -4.40 -28.90 -15.20 -19.70

Terrestrial acidification 5.60 -7.40 -10.60 -22.80 -30.30

Freshwater eutrophication -1.50 -0.80 -12.80 0.90 0.20

Marine eutrophication 16.30 -1.70 -2.10 -5.20 -6.90

Human toxicity -8.40 -1.30 -22.80 4.60 3.20

Photochemical oxidant formation 8.20 -12.60 -10.00 -40.20 -53.00

Particulate matter 4.90 -10.10 -11.10 -30.80 -41.10

Terrestrial ecotoxicity -68.20 -0.30 -85.90 0.00 -0.30

Freshwater ecotoxicity -67.50 -0.30 -89.40 -0.30 -0.60

Marine ecotoxicity -13.90 -3.50 -27.50 -6.50 -10.10

Ionising radiation 23.50 1.00 -3.10 5.80 6.80

Agricultural land occupation 11.10 0.00 -0.10 0.00 0.00

Urban land occupation 9.30 -1.30 -3.50 -2.20 -3.60

Natural land transformation 3.20 -13.40 -9.80 -35.20 -48.70

Water depletion 37.90 0.00 -0.10 -0.10 -0.10

Metal depletion -20.70 -3.40 -34.20 1.80 -1.60

Fossil depletion 32.90 -5.70 -9.20 -27.30 -33.2

ReferencesADEME 2017, AGRIBALYSE program. Available at: http://www.ademe.fr/en/expertise/alternative-approaches-to-production/agribalyse-programwww.ademe.fr-agribaly

se

INRA 2017 web page of MEANS tool. Available at https://www6.inra.fr/means

Koch P., Salou T. 2016. AGRIBALYSE : Methodology – Version 1.3, ADEME Angers, France, 343p.

Nemecek, T., Bengoa, X., Lansche, J., Mouron, P., Rossi, V. & Humbert, S. 2014. Methodological Guidelines for the Life Cycle Inventory of Agricultural Products. Versi

on 2.0, July 2014. World Food LCA Database (WFLDB). Quantis and Agroscope, Lausanne and Zurich, Switzerland.

This work is part of AGRIBALYSE® program supported by ADEME

(French Environmental Agency) and a partnership of French

agricultural institutes and LCA experts.

Picture 1. Apple orchard under rain cover