Study of Life Cycle Assessment in Corn Production Under Two Spring and Autumn Cultivars (Case Study of Khuzestan Province)

Agriculture is one important sectors of the economic and impact on the environment. Assessing the environmental impacts of agricultural production is one of the effective ways to achieve sustainable agriculture and preserve natural resources. The present study evaluates environmental impacts of corn production in Khuzestan province as a strategic crop cultivated twice a year. Data were collected from the province's agricultural Jahad, library information and experimental data of farmers in the area. field experiments were carried out in order to determine the irrigation water and yield from March 96 to December 97. Environmental impacts of global warming potentials, acidification potential, Eutrophication potential, fossil fuel consumption, water consumption, phosphate consumption and of potash consumption were investigated. For one ton of corn grain as a functional unit, it was determined that drying Eutrophication and discharging of phosphate sources had the highest potential for damage to the environment, and each of them had a contribution of 18.73% and 34.08% in environmental costs of pollutant emissions. In the meantime, the share of water resources consumption in environmental damage impacts was 22.85%. Environmental index (EcoX) for spring and autumn cultivations was 0.92 and 0.70 respectively, and RDI for spring and autumn cultivars respectively was 1.75 and 1.29, respectively. So, in order to reduce the pollution of corn production in the region, it is necessary to manage the optimum use of chemical fertilizers, replace them with organic fertilizers and use of biological fertilizers, use of nitrogen supply sources with less pollution potential. It is also recommended to plant early varieties in spring crop with high potential and consistent with the region's hydrological conditions.