Page 162 - Ecuador's Banana Sector under Climate Change

ecuador’s banana sector under climate change: an economic and biophysical assessment to promote a sustainable and climate-compatible strategy
Table 54 On-farm GHG emissions for Ecuador’s bananas (kgCO2e/t)
Conventional Organic Difference
N2O direct emissions 100.4 41.1 -59.3 Fertilizers 46.3 11.9 -34.4
Recycling of plastic crop -2 -3.7 -1.7 protection items
Electricity 2.5 1 -1.5 Packaging 81.2 80.4 -0.8
-93.7
-4.5
+2.1
+33.5
-62.6
Bifentrine (crop protection mat, 0.4 insecticide)
Chlorpyrifos (crop protection 0.1 mat. insecticide)
Pesticides 7.8
Fertilizer and pesticide 4.4 transport
Crop protection material 4.6
Fossil fuels 7.6
Oil (pesticide blending and 9.4 cableway)
Fossil CO2 direct emissions 46.2
Total
Source: Hospido and Roibás, Chapter 4)
0 -0.4 0 -0.1
8.1 0.3 4.7 0.3
6.1 1.5
11 3.4 17.9 8.5
67.8 21.6
-62.6
GHG emissions from pesticides and do so more from crop protection material. Almost 95 percent of the emissions derive from the intensive use of fossil fuels, compared to conventional methods of growing. In summary, a shift from conventional to organic methods would contribute to a little more than one third drop in the emissions from fertilizer. Therefore, N2O would be offset by the emissions from a more intensive use of fossil fuels.
The data in Table 54 indicate that considerably less N2O would emanate
if current conventional methods of growing were improved. It is not known, however, whether organically grown bananas are a sufficiently profitable alternative to conventionally grown ones, nor is it known whether there is a sufficient demand for organic bananas to absorb what would be a considerable shift from conventional to organic growing. In terms of economics, a large increase in the supply of organic bananas would squeeze the premium in the price. On the supply side, the limiting factor may be the availability and cost of additional labour that are required for the growing of organic bananas.
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