Dissertation
SUSTAINABILITY INTENSIFICATION OF FOOD SYSTEMS IN COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2020
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/116641
Abstract
Sustainable intensification of food production has been proposed as a solution to avoid food shortages and to overcome the negative consequences of limited resources such as water and land. This dissertation focuses on the introduction of new commercial-scale vegetable crops in Washington State by evaluating a) the cultivation of fresh tomatoes in indoor greenhouse and open-field conditions, b) the potential to produce selected vegetables for processing and their impact on land use, water use, and greenhouse gas emissions, and c) the potential of implementing double-cropping systems by combining existing crops with vegetables in a single growing season. Our results show that the cultivation of tomatoes in greenhouse systems could result in economic benefits and a reduction in the amount of water used compared with open-field production, but with the drawback of increased greenhouse gas emission per square meter and unit of tomato produced. Overall, we conclude that the irrigated areas of central Washington should be able to accommodate some fraction of the vegetable production needed to supply the growing domestic market. Finally, our results suggest that the implementation of double-cropping systems can increase the potential to produce vegetables in the state.
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Details
- Title
- SUSTAINABILITY INTENSIFICATION OF FOOD SYSTEMS IN COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN
- Creators
- Fidel Maximiliano Maureira Sotomayor
- Contributors
- Claudio Stockle (Advisor)Jennifer Adam (Committee Member)Troy Peter (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Biological Systems Engineering, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 148
- Identifiers
- 99900581611301842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation