RT Journal Article
T1 Improving environmental sustainability of agriculture in Egypt through a life-cycle perspective
A1 Lago Olveira, Sara
A1 El-Areed, Sherif R.M.
A1 Moreira Vilar, María Teresa
A1 González García, Sara
K1 Life Cycle Assessment
K1 Legumes
K1 Biodiversity loss
K1 Water scarcity
K1 Soil quality
K1 Mediterranean
AB Soil plays an essential role as a habitat, source of nutrients and support for vegetation. Promoting food security and environmental sustainability of agricultural systems requires an integrated approach to soil fertility management. Agricultural activities should be developed with preventive approaches aimed at avoiding or reducing negative impacts on the soil physicochemical and biological properties and the depletion of soil nutrient reserves. In this regard, Egypt has developed the Sustainable Agricultural Development Strategy to encourage environmentally friendly practices among farmers, such as crop rotation and water management, in addition to extending agriculture to desert areas, favoring the socio-economic development of the region. In order to evaluate the outcomes of the plan beyond quantitative data of production, yield, consumption and emissions, the environmental profile of agriculture in Egypt has been assessed under a life-cycle perspective in order to identify the associated environmental burdens and ultimately contribute to improving the sustainability policies of agricultural activity within the framework of a crop rotation system.In particular, a two-year crop rotation (Egyptian clover-maize-wheat) was analyzed in two distinct agricultural areas in Egypt: New Lands in desert regions and Old Lands along the Nile River, traditionally recognized as fertile areas due to the river alluvium and water availability. The New Lands had the worst environmental profile for all impact categories, except for Soil organic carbon deficit and Global potential species loss. Irrigation and on-field emissions associated with mineral fertilization were identified as the most critical hotspots of Egyptian agriculture. In addition, land occupation and land transformation were reported as the main drivers of biodiversity loss and soil degradation, respectively. Beyond these results, further research on biodiversity and soil quality indicators is needed to more accurately assess the environmental damage caused by the conversion of deserts into agricultural areas, given the species richness these regions hold
PB Elsevier
YR 2023
FD 2023
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/30659
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/30659
LA eng
NO Science of the Total Environment 890 (2023) 164335
NO This research is supported by the project Enhancing diversity in Mediterranean cereal farming systems (CerealMed), funded by PRIMA Programme, FEDER/Ministry of Science and Innovation– Spanish National Research Agency (PCI2020-111978); and Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT); and the project Transition to sustainable agri-food sector bundling life cycle assessment and ecosystem services approaches (ALISE), funded by the Spanish National Research Agency (TED2021-130309B-I00). S.L.O., M.T.M. and S.G.G belong to the Galician Competitive Research Group (GRC ED431C-2021/37) and to the Cross-disciplinary Research in Environmental Technologies (CRETUS Research Center, ED431E 2018/01)
NO This research is supported by the project Enhancing diversity in Mediterranean cereal farming systems (CerealMed), funded by PRIMA Programme, FEDER/Ministry of Science and Innovation– Spanish National Research Agency (PCI2020-111978); and Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT); and the project Transition to sustainable agri-food sector bundling life cycle assessment and ecosystem services approaches (ALISE), funded by the Spanish National Research Agency (TED2021-130309B-I00). S.L.O., M.T.M. and S.G.G belong to the Galician Competitive Research Group (GRC ED431C-2021/37) and to the Cross-disciplinary Research in Environmental Technologies (CRETUS Research Center, ED431E 2018/01)
DS Minerva
RD 28 abr 2026