Assessment of the environmental impact of three types of fertilizers on the cultivation of coffee at the Las Delicias indigenous reservation (Cauca) starting from the life cycle assessment

Abstract

This paper aims to assess and to compare the environmental performance of three different types of fertilizers in the production of coffee using the methodology of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the Las Delicias indigenous reservation (located in the northern area of the State of Cauca) in order to standardize the process. In this sense, some coffee producers used chemical fertilizers, others used poultry manure, and most coffee producers, used compost. They also applied artisanal techniques while conserving their ancestral traditions and cultures in the coffee production chain. Using the LCA, we found that of the three types of fertilizers (chemical fertilizer, poultry manure, and compost) the use of compost shows the minimum environmental impact on the category of climate change and acidification, meanwhile the use of chemical fertilizers is better in the category of terrestrial ecotoxicity and land use. Finally, the use of poultry manure obtained a better performance in the categories of human toxicity and eutrophication. Therefore, the best decision adjusted according to the results would be to fertilize with compost due to its lesser impact on soil acidification.