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Life Cycle Assessment towards a

sustainable food supply chain -

AgBalance™

Markus Frank, Peter Saling, Martijn Gipmans,

Jan Schöneboom – BASF SE | LCA Food 2014

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The Future of Agriculture

- Implications (Context, 2011)

Food production to be increased by 70% by 2050 (FAO)

Vast majority of farmers are mid-size smallholders -

pragmatic sustainable solutions needed

More influence by the food chain, trying to meet

consumers’ demands for food safety & sustainability

Sustainable intensification as the future paradigm

underlying intensive agriculture

Sustainability in Agriculture

- Sustainable Intensification

3 Sustainable Intensification is agro-ecosystem management and more

Intensive

Agriculture

Classical

paradigm

Sustainable

Intensification

fertility = fertilizer

pest control = pesticide

productivity = high-yielding variety

Integrated nutrient management

Integrated soil management

Integrated pest management

Crop rotationRoyal Society of the U.K., 2009

4 Basic philosophy of socio-economic LCA

… there are no blueprints!

SA cannot be defined by the acceptability of any particular

technology or practice alone

… there is no free lunch!

Tradeoffs and their resolution are at the core of SA.

…is not a “wolf in sheep‘s clothing“*

Nothing must be banned: hybrids, GMOs, mineral fertilizers,...

* Friends of the Earth

Sustainability in Agriculture

- Sustainable Intensification

Lack of Infrastructure

Connect farmers to improve

access to technology &

infrastructure

Lack of Marketing Support

Increase famers’

profitability through

decision support

Lack of Technical Advice

Access to agro know-how

and decision support

Is socio-economic life cycle assessment over-engineered for smallholders?

Sustainability in Agriculture

- Smallholder Issues

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Vision:

“ Enable one million soybean farmers to

sustainably produce 3 MT/ha with

enhanced quality, transforming farming into

a valued profession and creating a

profitable and sizeable business

proposition for us”

Project “One million smiles”

- Co-Creation of Farmers, ITC & BASF

Project “Samruddhi” (“Prosperity”)

2013: > 250,000 farmers reached

Agronomic

Practices

Selection of

Seed and

ST

Weed

Control

Insect

Control

Yield

GapHarvesting

Mandi

Market

place

Does Samruddhi improve the sustainability performance of soya production?

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AgBalance Method Development

Measure sustainability in agriculture

Eco-Efficiency

Sustainable

Agriculture

Holistic method for life cycle

assessment in agricultural and

food value chain

Informed decisions on how to

manage improvement

Independent assurance of

functionality and coherence

received by

AgBalance™

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The Engine Room of AgBalance I

Bona fide LCA and beyond…

Prechain Agriculture Downchain

AgBalance

Life Cycle

Assessment(ISO 14040-44)

Social Impact

Assessment(UNEP-SETAC)

Ag-specific

Indicators(Biodiversity, Soil,

Land use)

Total Life Cycle

Costs(Eco-Efficiency)

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Ecological aspects

includes the categories

water use, land use, energy

consumption, resource

depletion, emissions,

ecotoxicology potential

as well as indicators related

to

soil health and

biodiversity.

The Engine Room of AgBalance II

3 Dimensions, 16 Categories & 69 Indicators

Economic aspects

include indicators like

variable costs, fixed costs,

farm profits

and macro-economic

indicators such as

productivity and subsidies

Social aspects

include indicators like

working conditions,

training, education, human

toxicity, wages, gender

equality, MRL exceedances,

and also

rural employment, fair

trade, land lease prices and

social security.

Comprehensive data as

a profound basis for clear

statements needed

SUSTAINABILITY SCORE

+-

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The Engine Room of AgBalance III

Evaluation, Aggregation & Communication

Social

Economic

Ecological

Water use

Biodiversity

Land use

SoilEnergy

consumption

Emissions

Macro

economic

Fixed costs

Variable

costs

Consumer

Local &

national

community

International

community

Future

generation

Farmer/

Entrepreneur

Resource

consumption

Eco-toxicity

potential

Subsidies

Maintenance/

General repair

GVP

Farm profits

Seed

Soil preparation

Insurances Labour

Investment

Crop protection

Fertilization

Machinery

Deprecations

Soil compaction

Soil erosion

Eco-Toxicity Farming intensity

Crop rotation

Potential for

intermixing

Renewable

Energy

Greenhouse

gases

Acidification

potential

Ozone depletion

potential

Photochem.

Ozone creation

pot.

Water emissions

Solid waste

Assessed total

water use

State indicator

Agri-

environmental

schemes

Nutrients balance

Eco-Toxicity

potential

Abiotic resource

depletion

Non-renewable

Energy

Air emissions

Gender equality

Access to land

Residues

in feed & food

Unauthorized /

unlabeled GMO

Fair trade

Trainees

Social security

Association

membership

Professional

training

Imports from

developing

countries

Wages

Risk potential

Toxicity potential Integration

Wider economic

effects

N-surplus

Soil carbon

balance

Actual

Agricultural area

Assessed total

area (prechain)

Wages/salaries

(prechain and

downstream

chain)

Strikes and

lockouts

Functional

product

characteristics

Other risksEmployment

Qualified

employees

Employees

Part time workers

Family support

R&D

Capital

investments

Foreign direct

investment

Child labour

Other fixed costs

Protected areas

Toxicity potential

(Farmer)

Indicators

Categories

Dimensions

Custody/

Transport

Processing Retailer Disposal

Scope: Soybean production data from 2012 in Madhya Pradesh

On-farm interviews were carried out by TÜV Süd India Ltd.

Functional Unit: 1 ton of Soybean produced

Alternatives:

o Soya production according to Samruddhi farming practice

o Soya production according to a non-Samruddhi (but state-of-the-

art) farming practice

System Boundaries: Cradle to field border

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Off the farm

production of

operating funds

Preparation

Input

Cultivation Harvesting Custody/

Transport

Processing Retailer Disposal

These life cycle steps are not considered, since tconsidered equal for all alternatives

AgBalance on Samruddhi

Scope & System Boundaries

AgBalance on Samruddhi

Results of Single Score

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Sustainability performance:

Non Samruddhi

Samruddhi

Sustainability Score: better performance

of Samruddhi in Economy and

Environment

Economy: better cost position (fixed &

variable) and higher profits

Society: professional training as most

important driver (partly compensated by

pre-chain effects)

Environment: efficiency gains and soil

nutrient content in Samuddhi as key20 %

Samruddhi improves the economic & environmental dimensions

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Environmental performance:

Samruddhi

Non Samruddhi

Fertilizer

Typical fertilizer regime (mineral & organic

fertilizers) predicted to result in a nutrient

surplus in the soil: weaker performance in

“soil”, “biodiversity” and “emissions”.

Efficiency

More efficient use of land, energy and

abiotic resources through Samruddhi

Lower ecotox potential per functional unit

Water Use

Only secondary driver (rainfed production)

AgBalance on Samruddhi

Environmental Performance

Nutrient management of Samruddhi should be improved

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Sustainability performance:

Samruddhi

Samruddhi opt.

Rationale: Nutrient balance

restored by adaptation of the

mineral fertilizer amount used in

Samruddhi.

Result: 20 % higher sustainability

Economy: variable cost position &

profits improved

Society: no significant change

Environment: better performance

in most impact categories

40%

AgBalance on Samruddhi

Scenario Analysis – Optimized Nutrient Mgnt.

Optimized Samruddhi outperforms in both dimensions

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Environmental performance:

Samruddhi opti.

Samruddhi

Fertilizer

Better performance due to the nutrient

balances in the soil

Efficiency

Better performance regarding energy

consumption (fertilizer production), resource

depletion, emissions.

Water Use

Only secondary driver (rainfed production)

AgBalance on Samruddhi

Scenario Analysis – Optimized Nutrient Mgnt.

Optimized scenario results in better performance in environment & economy

From Sustainability to Crop Management

- Concept of AgB Farm

17Confidential

Description

Source: APD/S

Function:

Crop management tool

tailored to farmers’

needs

Based on AgBalance

study

Approach

1. Use AgBalance study as

basis

2. Identify key drivers

3. Build simulator model

4. Embed in IT platform

Interactive

scenario

analysis

Model

KPIs

Data Farming Operation

AgBalance

Web-based

Interface

‘AgB Farm’

‘AgBalance Farm’ Indicator Set

- Case Study: Soya in India

ErosionEffective

Yield

Water

emissions

Emissions

Global

Warming

Potential

Economy

N, P, K

Balance

Soil Organic

Matter

Balance

Acidification

potential

Abiotic

resource

depletion

Professional

training -

general

Human Tox

Potential

Farmer Resource

Efficiency

Variable

Costs

Profit

Energy

Consumption

Soil Health

y = 0.0122x + 1.2468

y = 0.0071x + 1

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

1.1

-90 -80 -70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40

x (N balance, kg N/ha)y (factor)

-80 0,33

-75 0,33

-49 0,65

0 1,00

25 1,00

Yie

ld

N [kg/ha]

Model built via

regression

analysis

Selection of the

key indicators

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‘AgBalance Farm’ Simulator

- Case Study: Soya in Madhya Pradesh

Objective: Facilitate discussion of ‘Samruddhi’ advisors with farmers

Displayed: Yield, Sustainability & Profitability

Benchmark: Average of ‘Samruddhi’ farmers in Madhya Pradesh

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‘AgBalance Farm’ Simulator

- Case Study: Soya in Madhya Pradesh

Example: Low input scheme (fertilizers, crop protection, interventions)

Results: Good sustainability performance but lower profitability

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‘AgBalance Farm’ Simulator

- Case Study: Soya in Madhya Pradesh

Example: Profitability- (not productivity)-focused scheme

Results: Good performance in yield, sustainability and profitability

The Need for Shared Principles

- Create transparency for farmers & the value chain

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Agribusiness

Government

NGOs

Growers

Food Retailers

Academia

Consumer

FTM

AgB

TSC

SAI

SFL

SISC

CGF

Yesterday Today Tomorrow

Harmonization with respect to the principles of assessment

F. Luckey, 2013

Co-Chairs: Rothamsted Research

& BASF

Members: TSC, SAI, RISE,

Espaco Eco, Embrapa, ASDA,

LEAF, Unis Wageningen & Guelph,

Unilever, ADAS, Farming Futures

Consultants: Cool Farm Alliance,

FtM, FAO

Status: Online consultation of draft

“White Paper“ till end of October

23 Thank you for participating in the online consultation

Action Group towards Shared Principles

- Draft ‘White Paper‘ prepared

Please visit:

www.sustain-agriculture.org

Sustainability in Modern Agriculture

- Conclusions

AgBalance™ was designed to assess

sustainability in agriculture and to give

guidance for improvement programs

AgBalance Farm aims to provide on-farm

decision support based on LCA results –

also for smallholders

Harmonization of evaluation principles

critical to increase acceptance by FVC

(‘Action Group on Shared Principles’)

Sustainability has become an imperative for modern agriculture -Let’s not miss the opportunity…!

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Please also visit Poster # 180 & talks in the sessions “Biodiversity“ and

“Food technology“…