Environmental Impact of Conventional Rice Cultivation using Life Cycle Analysis

Abstract

Rice is the staple cereal in most Asian countries. Agriculture and food production accounts for nearly a third of global GreenHouse Gas Emissions (GHGE), where rice has a significant contribution. This study quantifies the environmental impact of conventional rice cultivation using Life Cycle Analysis, which assesses every process, input and output in the cultivation system and measures the environmental impacts. The top six impacts in the production of 1000 kg paddy in one field in North East India was terrestrial toxicity (245.548 kg 1,4-DCB), global warming (144.283 Kg CO2 eq), human non-carcinogenic toxicity (83.905 kg 1,4-DCB), fossil fuel scarcity (38.760 kg oil eq.). More of such data is necessary to create a nation-wide database, so that consumers and policy makers can make proper decisions not only based on nutritional content or safety of food, but also in terms of their environmental impact.