The motivation for a conversion to crop production without the input of synthetic pesticides (cs-PSM) is based primarily on environmental concerns. The use of cs-PSM is considered as partly responsible for the loss of biodiversity, especially within the entomofauna (Sánchez-Bayo & Wyckhuys, 2019). Thus, environmental impacts play a decisive role beside yield and quality targets when comparing NOcsPS with conventional and organic cultivation systems.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a globally recognized methodical framework for the comparison of product systems regarding their environmental impacts (ISO, 2006 a, b). Although the LCA framework is an efficient tool for the comparative assessment of systems, the tool is still limited regarding the assessment of cropping systems. In particular, impacts on biodiversity and soil quality are covered only partly within the commonly applied methods (Wagner & Lewandowski, 2017).

The objective of this sub-project is to conduct a comparative LCA of conventional, organic and NOcsPS cultivation systems.

Hypotheses:

• The conversion from conventional to NOcsPS cropping systems involves environmental trade-offs, i.e. there are benefits in some environmental impact categories but additional burdens in others.

• In addition, trade-offs can arise between production (in particular yield and input demands) and environmental targets. If the system conversion leads to a significant yield decrease, this can have negative effects on the environmental impact of crop production, because the environmental burdens are then attributed to a lower output.

• Trade-offs between production targets (in particular yield and inputs) and environmental targets may be compensated by the combination and integration of modern production technologies in the NOcsPS cultivation systems, since they can decrease input requirements and emission outputs, or increase yield and product quality.

The development of an extended life cycle assessment model allows a) the comparison of the cultivation systems on system level and b) the inclusion of impact categories relevant for a comprehensive environmental evaluation (e.g. soil quality).

To perform a realistic assessment of the cultivation systems primary data from the field trails is used, including data from the exact trials, the cropping system trials for the ceteris-paribus comparison of different crop production systems, and also from the on-farm trial at 'Meiereihof'.

The quantification of environmental impact through selected indicators can illustrate the pros and cons, as well as Trade-offs between and within the investigated cultivation systems. Consequently, recommendations regarding the environmental optimal design of NOcsPS cultivation systems can be given.