Life Cycle Assessment of Brazilian pig production: environmental impacts of conventional and precision feeding programs

• Grant number: 13/23958-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: March 01, 2014
• End date: January 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Production
• Principal Investigator: Luciano Hauschild
• Grantee: Ines Andretta
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 12/03781-0 - Sustainable precision feeding systems (PFS) for swine and poultry: estimating real-time individual nutrient requirements (pigs) and evaluation of the PFS (pigs and poultry), AP.JP

Abstract

The objective of this project is to evaluate the environmental impact along the Brazilian pig production chain and to compare conventional and precision feeding programs for growing-finishing pigs in this scenario. Life cycle assessment will be used as an analytical tool, according to the following main steps: goal definition and determination of the scope, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation of the results. All environmentally significant impacts will be identified during pig production system, including: the feed ingredients (grain cultivation, production of other ingredients, transportation, etc.), the feed processing industry (processing, milling, storage, etc.) and animal interface (piglet production, nursery and growing-finishing phases). Two scenarios will be compared during the growing-finishing period: a conventional program, in which the pigs will be raised on a phase-feeding plan; and a precision feeding program, in which the pigs will receive diets daily and individually adjusted to meet their nutritional requirements. Resource use and environmental impacts along the life cycle will be identified and quantified according to the functional unit of a pig at 120 kg of live weight. The following impact categories will be considered: eutrophication, climate change, acidification, emissions of greenhouse gases and the use of pesticides, energy, water and land. This project will provide important information allowing the evaluation of the recently proposed feeding program (Project 'Jovem pesquisador': 2012/03781-0) from an environmental point of view in the Brazilian pig production chain. (AU)