Estimating environmental costs of greenhouse gas emissions in saffron production systems (case study: Torbat Hadiriyah)

The production of saffron as one of the most expensive agricultural and pharmaceutical products in the world has a high comparative advantage. Considering the importance of producing this product in Iran as an important non-oil export commodity and its role as a strategic, the estimation of the indirect environmental costs associated with the emission of its pollutants is necessary. The purpose of this study was to calculate the environmental costs of greenhouse gas emissions in Saffron farms in the Torbat Hadiriyah township. In order to collect  data (such as chemical fertilizers, irrigation, labor, animal manure and gasoline) a questionnaire and face-to-face interviews were used in the crop years 2017 and 2018.To investigate the relationship between good and bad output, the distance function is used as a parametric form of the translog. The results show that global warming potential (GWP) was calculated to be 369/24 kg equivalent to CO2 per kilogram of saffron straw. Also the environmental cost of greenhouse gases, methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide per hectare, according to a seven-year period, are: 77/888/700, 212/742/820 and 76/289/200 Rials, respectively. In total, the production of saffron over a seven-year period imposes an expense of 366/920/720 million Rials on the environment regarding the emission of greenhouse gases. This is equal to 52/417/240 million Rials for a crop year in per one hectare. About 21% of the income earned per hectare. In the end, it is suggested that the tax policy on fertilizers and soil tillage systems be reviewed and analyzed to reduce the environmental impacts of the saffron production system.