Greenhouse gas emissions
The emissions profile of all three crops are shown below in figure 2. The greatest sources of emissions for wheat production were the production and use of fertiliser. For barley and lupin production, the greatest source of emissions was the breakdown of residues due to relatively low rates of fertiliser being used.
Figure 2: Greenhouse gas emissions profile for the production of wheat, barley and lupins in the SA Vic Mallee agroecological zone.Greenhouse gas mitigation strategies
Mitigation strategies tested for the region were;
- Sustainable intensification
- Implementation of variable rate fertiliser technology
- Changing a wheat-wheat rotation to a legume-wheat rotation
More information on the assumptions used to test these strategies and how they might reflect individual enterprises are available on the Mitigation strategies page.
Results (figure 3 below) indicate that emissions of a t of wheat can be reduced by;
- 15% through the implementation of sustainable intensification
- 16% by implementation of variable rate fertiliser technology
Results also indicate the replacing a wheat crop with a legume crop in a two-crop rotation can increase greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 124%.
Figure 3. Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions for wheat production when grown with sustainable intensification, variable fertiliser and legume - wheat mitigation strategies in the SA Vic Mallee agroecological zone.
Accessible Content
Accessible versions of the raw data used to generate these charts is below.Greenhouse Gas Emissions Profile
Wheat | Barley | Lupins | |
---|---|---|---|
Lime production | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Lime use | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fertiliser production | 85.34103 | 29.10159 | 36.57908 |
Fertiliser use | 111.632 | 10.35086 | 13.01046 |
Residue emissions | 54.9992 | 52.10711 | 78.67765 |
Transport | 1.306355 | 0.53161 | 0.67229 |
Tractor operations | 39.16138 | 35.80699 | 42.62133 |
Chemical production | 42.4876 | 40.37496 | 53.39548 |
Calc total | 334.9275 | 168.2731 | 224.9563 |
Mitigation Strategies
Strategy | Result |
---|---|
Sustainable intensification | -53 |
Legume wheat rotation | 124 |
Additional lime applications | 0 |
Variable rate technology fertiliser | -16 |