Land management practices for FLAG emissions reduction and removals increase in cotton cultivation : A case study for IKEA

Sammanfattning

Cotton is one of the top agriculture commodities and for companies like IKEA, who deal with home furnishing, contributes significantly to their FLAG emissions. This study analyzes the type of land management practices that could be implemented/ or adjusted for emission reduction and carbon removals for the commodity and IKEA’s approach to increase sourcing from sustainable sources. As IKEA purchases 100% of its cotton from sustainable sources, a baseline was created according to these standards and adjustments were accordingly. The land management practices (LMPs) that were selected for this study were highly emphasized and researched throughout literature. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method was used to understand the cradle to farm-gate cycle of a cotton crop. The SimaPro software was used with multiple databases and secondary data from literature implemented and analyzed through the Global Warming Potential (GWP) impact category. Three scenarios were selected for analyses: manure application, irrigation systems, and tillage systems/cover crops. The manure application is where manure is added as an organic fertilizer to reduce the amount of chemical fertilizer. Irrigation systems focus on the amount of water input and energy use between different irrigation systems (surface, sprinkler, drip). The last scenario, tillage systems/cover crops analyzed the reduced tillage baseline system switching to a no tillage system and an addition to the tillage system, cover crop/manure being added to increase carbon removal. The results indicate that for the manure application scenario, additional manure in different percentages reduces the emissions parallel to the reduction rate of chemical fertilizer. Irrigation showed that the efficiency of the system is the highest contributor, therefore choosing a system with a higher efficiency reduced the emission, and the water input. Carbon removal rates were higher when adding input such as manure and cover crops rather than reducing or minimizing the tillage system.