Can Fertilization Methods and Soil Management Affect Operational Efficiency and CO2 Emissions from Fuel Consumption in Bean Cultivation?

Abstract

The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important food crop in tropical agriculture. However, fertilization and soil management methods for common beans require further investigation to reduce production costs and increase sustainability. Furthermore, cultivation methods can directly affect GHG emissions. Thus, this study evaluates the CO2 emissions from fuel consumption as a function of soil management and fertilization methods on the common bean crop. The randomized block design was used in a 2 × 3 factorial scheme with six repetitions composed of two fertilization systems (spread and furrow) and three soil management systems: convention-al tillage—CT, minimum tillage—MT, and no-tillage—NT. The productive performance of common beans varies according to fertilization methods and soil management. Field capacity in the (CT) was impaired due to the various mechanized soil preparation operations with 0.30 and 0.32 ha h−1, without a significant effect from the fertilization method. CT system resulted in higher CO2 emissions of 175.74 kg ha−1 and 165.50 kg ha−1; thus, in soil conservation management, these same values were up to 58% lower, with the lowest rates for NT. Crop yield in the MT system presented the best result compared to the CT and NT, with an appropriate cost–benefit ratio for bean production in tropical crops.