2011 Volume 7 Issue 1 Pages 23-29
Objective. The purpose of this paper is to review recent trends in the development of life cycle inventories（LCI）for agricultural production systems and to introduce an LCI database for agricultural production and biomass utilization in Japan called the NARO LCI database.
Results and Discussion. Agricultural production systems differ in several important respects from industrial production systems and it necessitates the introduction of special features into LCI database construction. Although several agricultural LCI databases were already developed, there are many projects for developing LCI data for agricultural production. The NARO LCI database includes inventories for agricultural crops, seeds and seedlings, fertilizers and pesticides, bioenergy, agricultural work processes, machinery and buildings, and direct field emissions.
Conclusions. The development of the LCI database for agricultural production systems will facilitate the applicability of LCA to agriculture, although attention has to be paid to how to draw appropriate comparisons for decision making through the application of LCA.
