Published in Scientific Bulletin. Series F. Biotechnologies, Vol. XXVI, Issue 1
Written by Valentin ZAMFIROPOL-CRISTEA, Iulia RĂUT, Florin OANCEA
Conservation agriculture is a farming system that includes no-tillage and coverage of the soil with plant residues. Despite many advantages, there are also drawbacks of such conservative systems. Plant residues promote the development of soil-borne pathogens and delay early crop development stages. Bioproducts based on microbial plant biostimulant strains were applied to compensate for the drawbacks of the conservation farming system. This paper evaluates the eco-efficiency and the economic benefits of using plant biostimulant Trichoderma strains as a plant residues treatment. To determine eco-efficiency, we used a Life-Cycle Analysis approach. We calculate the gross margin based on average yields and available statistical costs for outputs (tomatoes) and inputs for economic benefits estimation. The application of Trichoderma-based plant biostimulant bioproducts significantly increased the yield by 16.03%. The greenhouse gas (GHGs) production calculation reveals that the biostimulant application to plant residues reduced GHGs emissions per production unit. The yield increase compensates for the additional costs of the bioproducts. The gross margin is higher in the conservation farming system, which utilizes Trichoderma plant biostimulants.
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