Dipartimento di Agraria, Università degli Studi Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, Località Feo di Vito, 89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy.
Dipartimento di Agraria, Università degli Studi Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, Località Feo di Vito, 89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy.
Sci Total Environ. 2018 Jun 1;625:1446-1458. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.005. Epub 2018 Jan 12.
The mechanization of farming operation plays an important role in improving the profitability of the agricultural sector by increasing work productivity and reducing production costs. However, the new challenges of agriculture also include the environmental issues. The choice between different alternatives to perform a determined agricultural practice should be based on reliable information, considering technical, economic and environmental aspects. Olive growing represents the most important agricultural production in the Mediterranean Basin and its mechanization, particularly harvesting, could have major impacts on the sustainability of this production. This study aims at assessing various olive-harvesting scenarios, while considering technical, economic and environmental aspects in order to build a beta version of the "olive-harvesting database". The proposed methodology called "modular approach" could represent a useful tool to apply in unitary process assessment in order to obtain a comprehensive database of the diverse agricultural operations. The methodology was based on Life Cycle Assessment and production cost analysis. Technical performance evaluation showed that the recorded work capacities varied between 5 tons of harvested olives per day when employing mechanical harvest aids and 18 tons per day when employing trunk shakers. The economic evaluation highlighted that the harvesting costs are variable as a function of the given cost type (costs per hour, costs per kg of harvested olives and costs per hectare). The LCA revealed that mechanically aided techniques were the most sustainable ones when the functional unit is considered as one harvesting hour, although this FU is not the most suitable unit for choosing the best environmental solution. The surface and production mass units are more appropriate FUs in comparative studies, although they are strictly linked to the "work capacity". A significant variation in the environmental performances depended on the FUs and on the average yields when the FU represented one kg of harvested olives.
农业机械化在提高农业部门的盈利能力方面发挥着重要作用，它可以提高工作效率，降低生产成本。然而，农业面临的新挑战也包括环境问题。选择执行特定农业实践的不同替代方案应基于可靠的信息，同时考虑技术、经济和环境方面。橄榄种植是地中海盆地最重要的农业生产之一，其机械化，特别是收获过程，可能对这种生产的可持续性产生重大影响。本研究旨在评估各种橄榄收获方案，同时考虑技术、经济和环境方面，以构建“橄榄收获数据库”的测试版。所提出的称为“模块化方法”的方法可以作为在单一过程评估中应用的有用工具，以获得各种农业操作的综合数据库。该方法基于生命周期评估和生产成本分析。技术性能评估表明，当使用机械收获辅助工具时，每天可收获 5 吨橄榄，而当使用树干振动器时，每天可收获 18 吨橄榄。经济评估强调，收获成本是可变的，取决于给定的成本类型（每小时成本、每公斤收获橄榄的成本和每公顷成本）。生命周期评估显示，在功能单位被视为一个收获小时时，机械辅助技术是最可持续的技术，尽管这个功能单位不是选择最佳环境解决方案的最合适单位。在比较研究中，表面和产量质量单位是更合适的功能单位，尽管它们与“工作能力”密切相关。在代表每公斤收获橄榄的功能单位时，环境绩效的显著变化取决于功能单位和平均产量。
