Life cycle assessment of Nicotiana tabacum L.: sustainability of seedling alternatives

Abstract The seedling of Nicotiana tabacum L. (N. tabacum) holds strategic and economic importance in the product chain due to its vital contributions to agronomical yield and the characteristics of the final product. This study assessed the environmental life cycle impacts of three technologies for N. tabacum seedlings (traditional seedbed, technified, and tray-based). This assessment considered the main activities within the studied system boundaries, insecticides, fertilizers, fungicides, infrastructure, energy, seedling and composting, irrigation, and land use. In this context, relevant scenarios were examined for the Cuban context. The findings reveal that tray-based technology exhibited lower environmental burdens due to reduced consumption of insecticides, fungicides, and fertilizers in N. tabacum phytotechnology, as well as lower diesel consumption in water pumping for irrigation. Energy consumption was the highest contributing factor in 10 out of the 18 impact categories (with values of up to 90%), associated with the emissions from electricity consumption in a fossil fuel-based energy matrix. Additionally, Seedling and composting showed higher impacts in five impact categories (with values of up to 99.8%) due to emissions of nitrogen oxides and acephate into the air. Implementation of cleaner production strategies resulted in a significant reduction of impacts compared to the baseline scenario, particularly through a combination of photovoltaic energy generation for water irrigation pumping and optimized soil tillage (reducing diesel consumption), leading to a reduction of up to 73%. These results not only benefit researchers and farmers but also provide valuable insights for decision-makers, supporting the implementation of renewable energy sources in agriculture.