Crop protection machinery use methodology

Calculates emissions due to combustion of fuel by machinery applying crop protection.

Overview

Crop protection machinery use activity quantifies emissions due to the application of crop protection by tractor with a boom. This operation occurs with the application of herbicides, fungicides and insecticides on a commodity crop.

Limitations

This methodology does not include the actual production of the machinery or maintenance.

This activity’s methodology does not include crop protection machinery (fumigation) specific to potatoes.

This activity is linked to the assumptions made in the crop protection production methodology and corresponding application assumptions.

User Inputs

For each measurement there are inputs required. In the case that the user cannot provide the inputs then Regrow will default them.

Inputs required	Description	Unit/Options
Crop	The name of your measured crop. This should be a single crop per measurement. If a cover crop is included in the cultivation cycle of the measured crop, then it will be included in the emissions attributed to the measured crop.	See our list of supported crops
Harvested yield	The harvested fresh yield for your measured crop, before any drying or other losses might occur. This is used as the yield denominator.	kg per hectare
Location	The area used in the production of your measured crop. This should be a single field or single managed unit. Location is used to inform the emissions factors used. In most cases this is a global value for the crop and some select crops x geography this is country-specific.	Country-level or field level
Crop protection type and amount	This information is dependent upon the crop protection application methodology. This data is defaulted. It assumed to match all amounts and types.

Assumptions for on-field crop protection application activities

Assumes all commodity crops receive crop protection applications. No cover crops receive crop protection applications.
Assumes: 2 passes per hectare for commodity crops only.
All applications use the same machinery type.

Emissions factor coefficients

Ecoinvent v3.11 is used for all emission factor coefficients. For this activity only one data set is referenced.

Machinery type	Coverage via Ecoinvent	Geographies covered	Unit assumed	Dates
application of plant protection product, by field sprayer	This is applying plant protection product, by field sprayer on an area of one hectare.	Rest of World, Brazil, Switzerland, Canada – Quebec, South Africa, Canada – without Quebec, United States	1 ha sprayed	Row, BR (2012-2024), CH, CA-Quebec (1991-2024), ZA (2016-2024), CA-w/o Quebec (2019-2024), US (2021-2024)