Greenhouse gas emissions
The emissions profile of all three crops are shown below in figure 2. For wheat and canola, the greatest sources of emissions were the production and use of fertiliser. Emissions associated with the breakdown of residues also made a considerable contribution to total emissions. The emissions profile of lupins was dominated by emissions assocaited with residue breakdown due to the low rate of fertiliser used on the crop.
Figure 2: Greenhouse gas emissions profile for the production of wheat, canola and lupins in the WA Central agroecological zone.Greenhouse gas mitigation strategies
Mitigation strategies tested for the region were;
- Sustainable intensification
- Additional applications of lime
- 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;
- 80% through the implementation of sustainable intensification
- 17% by additional lime applications
- 11% 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 125%.
Figure 3: Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions for wheat production when grown with sustainable intensification, variable fertiliser, additional lime applications and legume - wheat mitigation strategies in the WA Central agroecological zone.
Accessible Content
Accessible versions of the raw data used to generate these charts is below.Greenhouse Gas Emission Profile
Wheat | Canola | Lupins | |
---|---|---|---|
Lime production | 5.337032 | 9.087379 | 5.09444 |
Lime use | 9.051437 | 15.41191 | 8.640008 |
Fertiliser production | 108.1981 | 196.0927 | 53.20593 |
Fertiliser use | 140.0248 | 242.7563 | 19.44493 |
Residue emissions | 54.9992 | 116.0882 | 78.67765 |
Transport | 5.744672 | 9.92871 | 4.84326 |
Tractor operations | 34.94283 | 59.79484 | 61.54978 |
Chemical production | 43.83075 | 64.1995 | 59.37448 |
Calc total | 387.7403 | 688.8602 | 277.096 |
Mitigation Strategies
Strategy | Result |
---|---|
Sustainable intensification | -80 |
Legume wheat rotation | 125 |
Additional lime applications | -11 |
Variable rate technology fertiliser | -17 |