It is not only in Germany that potatoes and potato products have a firm place on the menu. Globally, the potato is one of the most important staple plant foods and ranks fourth in the world after maize, rice and wheat. The discussion about sustainable food production is therefore of great socio-political importance.
The topic of sustainability is also very present in the potato industry. The Union der Deutschen Kartoffelwirtschaft e. V. (UNIKA) and the Deutsche Kartoffelhandelsverband e. V. (DKHV) have therefore commissioned a literature review on the carbon footprint of potato production and processing.
The study was carried out by the team of Prof. Dr. Elke Pawelzik and Dr. Marcel Naumann from the Georg-August University of Göttingen. "It is important for us to classify the areas in which we are already well positioned in terms of CO2 emissions. The literature research is also intended to identify potential savings," explains UNIKA/DKHV Managing Director Dr. Sebastean Schwarz, explaining the motivation behind the work.
A large number of publications were evaluated. The evaluation mainly included study results that were carried out according to the systemic approach of life cycle analysis (LCA) and had a cradle-to-gate system boundary. Dr. Naumann describes the challenges of the study due to the different research approaches. "The variety of publications made the comparison difficult, but our evaluations show that the cultivation of fresh potatoes causes around 50 percent less greenhouse gas emissions compared to the types of grain examined. This also applies to the comparison of fresh potatoes with processed potato products, as each additional processing step has an impact on the carbon footprint."
The literature review also identified potential measures to further reduce CO2 emissions during potato cultivation, such as a targeted and reduced use of nitrogen fertilizers. Nevertheless, the scientists emphasize that the carbon footprint depends on many variables, including the cultivation conditions, and therefore no uniform action strategy for reducing emissions can be derived.
This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the complex interrelationships between potato production and environmental impact.
For more information, visit https://unika-ev.de.