Energy use efficiency, GHG emissions, and cost-effectiveness of organic and sustainable fertilisation

Abstract Increasing healthy food production and energy use efficiency, as well as optimising the cost effectiveness of production and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, are currently the most important objectives of agriculture. The aim of this study was to assess different fertilisation methods in organic and sustainable farming using energy, environmental, and economic indicators. This research is based on a long-term study of cultivating winter wheat and the following spring barley with the under-sowing of red clover under two organic (SC-I and SC-II) and two sustainable (SC-III and SC-IV) fertilisation scenarios in soils with low or moderate organic carbon content. The fertilisers used in SC-I, SC-II, SC-III, and SC-IV were green manure, green manure + farmyard manure, farmyard manure + NPK, and green manure + NPK, respectively. SC-I and SC-IV exhibited the lowest total energy inputs and highest energy efficiency ratios of 8.73 and 8.37 in soil with a low organic carbon content, and 9.15 and 8.72 in soil with a moderate organic carbon level, respectively. The results indicate that fertilisation with farmyard manure resulted in a tenfold increase in the total GHG emissions from those of the green manure fertilisation. SC-I provided the highest returns and the best cost-effectiveness ratio.