Accounting for environmental awareness in wheat production through Life Cycle Assessment

TL;DR

The paper tackles how environmental awareness can influence wheat production decisions by linking a per-hectare input-choice model to Life Cycle Assessment. It combines a Leontief-type production function with a yield-gap mechanism to determine the target yield $\hat{y}$ and input levels $\hat{x}_i$, then evaluates environmental damages using ReCiPe 2016 Endpoint to produce DALYs and species.year scores. Calibrated with CREA-RICA data from Italy, it demonstrates a representative case with an optimal input mix yielding $\hat{y}^*=7.8$ t/ha and inputs $\hat{x}_0^*=50.13$, $\hat{x}_1^*=5.57$, $\hat{x}_2^*=3.57$. The framework enables an agent-based wheat-sector model that can simulate environmental-policy scenarios and sustainability adoption, incorporating feedback from DALYs and species losses to influence farmer decisions.

Abstract

This paper presents a modeling framework for simulating the decision-making processes of artificial farms populating an agent-based model for the Italian wheat production system. The decision process is based on a mathematical programming model with which farms (i.e., agents) decide the target yield (production per hectare) and the mix of inputs needed to obtain such production, namely 1) fertilizers, 2) herbicides, and 3) insecticides. The environmental impacts of conventional production practices are assessed through a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), using the ReCiPe 2016 methodology at the Endpoint level. Agents are made aware of the environmental consequences of their choices through two indicators: Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), which capture human health impacts, and the number of species lost per year, reflecting impacts on ecosystems. By internalizing this information, agents can make more balanced and sustainable production decisions.

Figures (1)

• Figure 1: Visual representation of conditional yield curve estimation for nitrogen (left chart) for farms localized on the hills of the Macerata province. The same line is displayed, together with those estimated for herbicides and insecticides, in the right chart.