ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Contribution of Legume-Derived Biological
Nitrogen Fixation in Reducing Greenhouse
Gas Emissions Originating from Agriculture
in Türkiye
			
	
 
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				Department of Field Crop, Faculty of Agriculture, Selcuk University, Konya, 42025, Türkiye
				 
			 
										
				
				
		
		 
			
			
			
			 
			Submission date: 2023-09-02
			 
		 		
		
			
			 
			Final revision date: 2023-09-29
			 
		 		
		
		
			
			 
			Acceptance date: 2023-10-02
			 
		 		
		
			
			 
			Online publication date: 2023-11-23
			 
		 		
		
			
			 
			Publication date: 2024-01-22
			 
		 			
		 
	
							
					    		
    			 
    			
    				    					Corresponding author
    					    				    				
    					Abdullah  Özköse   
    					Field Crops, Selçuk University, Faculty of Agriculture, Konya, Turkey
    				
 
    			
				 
    			 
    		 		
			
							 
		
	 
		
 
 
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2024;33(2):1337-1345
		
 
 
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Nitrogen fertilizer production and use contribute to the increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
GHGs due to nitrogen (N) fertilizer use can be reduced to a certain extent with legume agriculture.
This study was conducted to estimate the amount of N produced by biological N fixation (BNF)
in legumes grown in Türkiye, the amount of synthetic N fertilizer corresponding to this amount
of N, and the global GHG emission equivalent of the production, transport, and use of this fertilizer
in the field. Firstly, the amount of N fixed by BNF in a year in legume cultivation areas in Türkiye
was calculated. Then, the GHG equivalents emitted during the production, transport, and application
in the field of synthetic N fertilizers, which is the equivalent of N fixed by BNF, were calculated.
The total amount of N fixed with BNF in 2022 in Türkiye is 363,354 tons. The total GHGs emissions
during the production, transport, and use of N fertilizer equivalent to 363354 t of N fixed by BNF
is 2,631,043 tons CO2-eq. In other words, in one year in Türkiye, 2,631,043 tons of CO2-eq GHGs
will be reduced thanks to legume agriculture. GHG emissions of the Turkish agricultural sector
(total 72.1 Mt CO2-eq) have been reduced by about 3.65% (2.63 Mt CO2-eq). For an economically and
environmentally sustainable agriculture, we need to give more importance to the cultivation of pulses.