Greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption from different soil management practices in industrial tomato production in Brazil

With the growing demand for more sustainable agricultural systems and reduced environmental impacts, conservationist soil systems have enabled production gains and reductions in emissions and input usage. Currently, the transition to direct transplantation systems has intensified in Brazil, particularly in industrial tomato production areas. In this context, this study aimed to determine the energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of industrial tomato production under different soil management systems in southern Goiás. Energy flows, production, and GHG emissions were determined through field surveys of energy expenditure associated with conventional soil management and non-till transplanting systems. The results revealed that tomato production systems heavily depend on non-renewable energy sources, with significant energy consumption related to fertilizers, chemicals, and fuels. The systems' energy conversion capacity proved adequate, showing that adopting no-till transplanting systems results in gains of 38.6 % in net energy, 29.3 % in energy efficiency, and a 14.3 % reduction in GHG emissions compared to the conventional system. These results highlight the feasibility of adopting conservative systems for industrial tomato production.