Abstract
Agricultural ecosystems can provide high quality biomass production as an ecosystem service. On the other hand, intrusive agriculture and searching for higher profitability, has induced enormous Green House Gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural ecosystems. In this way, trade-off between mitigating climate change and benefiting from biomass production ecosystem service has occurred. This trade-off is especially evident in greenhouse horticulture because of the requirement of high quality biomass production. Against this background the goal of this study is to develop a co-benefit approach between reducing GHG emissions and sustaining biomass production in greenhouse horticulture as a flagship model of solving this trade-off structure. Biomass production and GHGs emission from soil were analyzed using DNDC (DeNitrification DeComposition) model. Fuel consumption for heating was analyzed using a tool for estimating greenhouse heating fuel consumption. GHGs emission reduction by means of greenhouse temperature management and fertilizer use reduction was analyzed. As a result, the case study plant was found to be using excess fertilizer. Reducing fertilizer use by 45 % was found to have limited effect on the biomass production. Environmental efficiency defined as the ratio of biomass production and GHGs emission was found to be at its highest when fertilizer use was reduced by 47% and the greenhouse temperature was lowered by 3 at the case study production plant.
